Brain circuit responsible for cocaine withdrawal-induced anxiety and relapse-related behavior
Research identifies a potential target for therapeutic interventions


Date:
May 3, 2022
Source:
University of California - Irvine
Summary:
New research finds that drug withdrawal-induced anxiety and
reinstatement of drug seeking behaviors are controlled by a single
pathway in the brain and centered around dopamine cells.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
New research from the University of California, Irvine, finds that drug withdrawal-induced anxiety and reinstatement of drug seeking behaviors
are controlled by a single pathway in the brain and centered around
dopamine cells.


==========================================================================
The study, "An extended amygdala-midbrain circuit controlling cocaine withdrawal-induced anxiety and reinstatement," was published today in
Cell Reports.

Addiction occurs in phases: initial drug exposures are rewarding, repeated administration leads to tolerance or sensitization to the drug's effects,
and withdrawal leads to anxiety and a negative affective state, which,
in turn, contribute to reinstatement of drug taking/seeking.

"In order to prevent relapse among drug users, specifically cocaine
users, we need to understand the factors in the brain that contribute
to drug seeking behaviors and the vulnerability to relapse," said
Kevin Beier, PhD, assistant professor of physiology and biophysics at
UCI School of Medicine. "In this study, we identified a brain circuit
that is responsible for drug withdrawal- induced anxiety as well as relapse-related behavior, along with the identification of a potential
target for therapeutic interventions." The negative affective state
induced by withdrawal from use of drugs of abuse is a critical factor
causing drug users to relapse.

"Both the drug withdrawal-induced anxiety and reinstatement of drug
seeking are controlled by a single pathway centered around dopamine cells
in the ventral midbrain," explained Beier. "That a single pathway controls
both sets of behavioral changes may help to explain many addiction-related behavioral phenomena. Importantly, it links them both directly to
dopamine, which is more typically linked to reward-related behaviors."
Although midbrain dopamine circuits are central to motivated behaviors,
the knowledge of how experience modifies these circuits to facilitate subsequent behavioral adaptations is limited. This study demonstrates
the selective role of a ventral tegmental area dopamine projection to
the amygdala for cocaine induced anxiety, but not cocaine reward or sensitization. Silencing this projection prevents development of anxiety
during protracted withdrawal after cocaine use.

According to the National Center for Drug Abuse Statistics, there are
roughly 70,000 drug overdoses each year in the United States. In 2017,
nearly one in five drug overdose deaths was cocaine-related, with the
highest rate of cocaine-related overdoses and deaths occurring among non-Hispanic black populations. Between 2012 and 2018, the rate of cocaine-related overdose deaths increased from 1.4 to 4.5 percent. The
American Addiction Centers state recent drug relapse statistics show
that more than 85 percent of individuals relapse and return to drug use
within a year following treatment.

This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health,
Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program, American Parkinson Disease Association, Alzheimer's Association, New Vision Research, and the Brain
and Behavior Research Foundation.


========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by
University_of_California_-_Irvine. Note: Content may be edited for style
and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Guilian Tian, May Hui, Desiree Macchia, Pieter Derdeyn, Alexandra
Rogers,
Elizabeth Hubbard, Chengfeng Liu, Jose J. Vasquez, Lara Taniguchi,
Katrina Bartas, Sean Carroll, Kevin T. Beier. An extended amygdala-
midbrain circuit controlling cocaine withdrawal-induced anxiety and
reinstatement. Cell Reports, 2022 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2022.110775 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/05/220503190221.htm

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