Substance use disorders (SUDs) are associated with cycles of drug use, abstinence, and relapse. A history of SUDs leads to heightened prefrontal cortex activation to drug-associated stimuli, and this enhanced activation is positively correlated with feelings of ‘craving’ before cocaine use. This same history also leads to reduced prefrontal brain activity when viewing cues linked to non-drug rewards. This projaims aims to will link differential neural firing within the PrL and IL to drug reward cues and nondrug reward cues with GABAergic interneuron activity utilizing cell-type specific Ca++ imaging.
Funded by Brain and Behavioral Research Foundation
