Neural Correlates of Inflexible Behavior in the Orbitofrontal–Amygdalar Circuit after Cocaine Exposure
THOMAS A. STALNAKER
Departments of Anatomy and Neurobiology and Psychiatry, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21201, USA
Search for more papers by this authorMATTHEW R. ROESCH
Departments of Anatomy and Neurobiology and Psychiatry, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21201, USA
Search for more papers by this authorDONNA J. CALU
Program in Neuroscience, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21201, USA
Search for more papers by this authorKATHRYN A. BURKE
Program in Neuroscience, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21201, USA
Search for more papers by this authorTEGHPAL SINGH
Department of Psychology, University of Maryland Baltimore County, Baltimore, Maryland 21228, USA
Search for more papers by this authorGEOFFREY SCHOENBAUM
Departments of Anatomy and Neurobiology and Psychiatry, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21201, USA
Department of Psychology, University of Maryland Baltimore County, Baltimore, Maryland 21228, USA
Search for more papers by this authorTHOMAS A. STALNAKER
Departments of Anatomy and Neurobiology and Psychiatry, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21201, USA
Search for more papers by this authorMATTHEW R. ROESCH
Departments of Anatomy and Neurobiology and Psychiatry, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21201, USA
Search for more papers by this authorDONNA J. CALU
Program in Neuroscience, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21201, USA
Search for more papers by this authorKATHRYN A. BURKE
Program in Neuroscience, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21201, USA
Search for more papers by this authorTEGHPAL SINGH
Department of Psychology, University of Maryland Baltimore County, Baltimore, Maryland 21228, USA
Search for more papers by this authorGEOFFREY SCHOENBAUM
Departments of Anatomy and Neurobiology and Psychiatry, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21201, USA
Department of Psychology, University of Maryland Baltimore County, Baltimore, Maryland 21228, USA
Search for more papers by this authorAbstract
Abstract: Addiction is characterized by compulsive or inflexible behavior, observed both in the context of drug-seeking and in contexts unrelated to drugs. One possible contributor to these inflexible behaviors may be drug-induced dysfunction within circuits that support behavioral flexibility, including the basolateral amygdala (ABL) and the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC). Here we describe data demonstrating that chronic cocaine exposure causes long-lasting changes in encoding properties in the ABL and the OFC during learning and reversal in an odor-guided task. In particular, these data suggest that inflexible encoding in ABL neurons may be the proximal cause of cocaine-induced behavioral inflexibility, and that a loss of outcome-expectant encoding in OFC neurons could be a more distal contributor to this impairment. A similar mechanism of drug-induced orbitofrontal–amygdalar dysfunction may cause inflexible behavior when animals and addicts are exposed to drug-associated cues and contexts.
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