Fig. 4: The RSC is involved in cocaine memory recall and essential for the persistence of long-term cocaine memory.

A Experimental timeline of fiber photometry recordings in the RSC during CPP test. B AAV-hSyn-GCaMP7s was injected into the RSC, along with the optical fiber in the same location. C Representative photo of GCaMP7s expression in the RSC. Green: GCaMP7s. Blue: DAPI. Scale bar: 200 μm. D Trial-by-trial heatmap representations of Ca²⁺ signals in the RSC during the Pre-test, D1-test, and D14-test. E Peri-event plot of average Ca²⁺ signals aligned to entry into the cocaine-paired chamber. F Ca²⁺ signals in the RSC were enhanced in the D1-test and D14-test compared with the Pre-test during the 3 seconds before entry into the cocaine-paired chamber. G Ca²⁺ signals in the RSC were enhanced in the Pre-test and D14-test compared with the D1-test during the 3 seconds after entry into the cocaine-paired chamber. AUC, Area under the curve. One-way ANOVA. H Experimental timeline of chronic CNO or vehicle (1 mg/kg, i.p.) administration from day 10 to day 20. I Viral injection schematic of the RSC. J Representative images of viral placements in the RSC. Green: EGFP. Blue: DAPI. Scale bar: 200 μm. K Chronic inhibition of the RSC reduced CPP score during the D14-test. n = 10 per group. Two-way ANOVA followed by Tukey’s post hoc test. *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001.