Relapse to cocaine use after abstinence is often induced by drug-associated cues. Cocaine-seeking depends on activation of glutamatergic AMPA receptors in the nucleus accumbens. It is now shown that the number of AMPA receptors increases during abstinence in rodents, and that these new receptors also have a higher conductance. Moreover, these additional receptors were critical for the increased reactivity of nucleus accumbens neurons to cocaine-related cues.
- Kelly L. Conrad
- Kuei Y. Tseng
- Marina E. Wolf
