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Stimuli associated with a single cocaine experience elicit long-lasting cocaine-seeking

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Abstract

Epidemiological data suggest that cocaine dependence emerges rapidly, and most cocaine addicts meet criteria for dependence within 1–3 years after onset of drug use. Here we show that in rats, environmental stimuli associated with a single cocaine self-administration experience elicit strong cocaine-seeking that persists for up to one year. In contrast, conditioned stimuli that were associated with a highly palatable non-drug reinforcer elicited modest behavioral responses that extinguished within 3 months.

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Figure 1: Reinstatement of cocaine-seeking after a single drug experience.
Figure 2: Response patterns during access to cocaine and saline.
Figure 3: Conditioned reinstatement after one-time access to a highly palatable conventional reinforcer, sweetened condensed milk (SCM).

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Acknowledgements

Supported by NIH/NIDA grants DA07348 and DA08348 (F.W.). This is manuscript number 15943-NP from The Scripps Research Institute. The authors thank C. Lorentz, N. Stuempfig and J. Simms for technical assistance, as well as C.V. Dayas and M. Arends for assistance with the preparation of the manuscript.

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Author notes

  1. Roberto Ciccocioppo and Rémi Martin-Fardon: These authors contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pharmacological Science and Experimental Medicine, University of Camerino, Camerino (MC), 62032, Italy

    Roberto Ciccocioppo

  2. Department of Neuropharmacology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, 92037, California, USA

    Rémi Martin-Fardon & Friedbert Weiss

Authors
  1. Roberto Ciccocioppo
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  2. Rémi Martin-Fardon
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  3. Friedbert Weiss
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Correspondence to Roberto Ciccocioppo.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Ciccocioppo, R., Martin-Fardon, R. & Weiss, F. Stimuli associated with a single cocaine experience elicit long-lasting cocaine-seeking. Nat Neurosci 7, 495–496 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/nn1219

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