Cocaine Priming
Cocaine Priming - Related Videos
06:16
Verbal Priming
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2023
Source: Laboratory of Jonathan Flombaum—Johns Hopkins University Human memory seems to work in two broad ways. Like modern computers, the human mind has explicit, or declarative, memory: ask a question, and a person gives the best answer they can. Input a query, and a computer program returns the contents of the relevant parts of its stored memory. Humans also have a second kind of memory system, one not really typical of computers, one that experimental psychologists call implicit. Implicit...
08:22
Stereotaxic Microinjection of Viral Vectors Expressing Cre Recombinase to Study the Role of Target Genes in Cocaine Conditioned Place Preference
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Cited by 2 •
2013
This article describes how to microinject viral vectors into mouse brain and then test in a conditioned place preference paradigm that includes an acquisition, extinction and reinstatement phase.
07:51
A Protocol for Measuring Cue Reactivity in a Rat Model of Cocaine Use Disorder
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Cited by 6 •
2018
Cue reactivity is conceptualized as sensitivity to cues linked with drug-taking experiences that contribute to craving and relapse in abstinent humans. Cue reactivity is modeled in rats by measuring attentional orientation toward drug-associated cues that results in appetitive approach behavior in a cue reactivity test following self-administration and forced abstinence.
08:54
A Procedure for Studying the Footshock-Induced Reinstatement of Cocaine Seeking in Laboratory Rats
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Cited by 14 •
2011
Animal models of relapse, known as reinstatement procedures, have been used extensively to study the role of stress in relapse to drug seeking. Here, we report on a method for inducing the reinstatement of cocaine seeking in laboratory rats via acute exposures to mild, intermittent electric footshock.
10:28
Assessment of Cocaine-induced Behavioral Sensitization and Conditioned Place Preference in Mice
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Cited by 19 •
2016
This protocol is intended to enable researchers to conduct experiments designed to test these aspects of addiction using the conditioned place preference and locomotor behavioral sensitization assays.
FAQs
Cocaine blocks dopamine transporters, which increases dopamine signaling in reward-related neural circuits. That pharmacological change can provide the drug-related stimulus needed to reactivate previously extinguished responding. Studying this effect allows investigators to connect behavioral reinstatement with dopamine-system activity and examine whether altering relevant receptors or pathways changes the strength of cocaine-seeking behavior.
The distinction rests on the source of the reinstating event. Cocaine priming uses a noncontingent drug exposure, whereas cue- and stress-induced models rely on different triggers. Separating these conditions helps researchers determine whether a candidate intervention acts broadly on relapse-related behavior or specifically modifies drug-induced mechanisms associated with cocaine’s pharmacological effects.
Extinction establishes that the previously reinforced cocaine-taking response has declined before the priming challenge occurs. This creates a controlled baseline for evaluating whether cocaine exposure increases responding again. Without that behavioral phase, investigators could not clearly interpret renewed responding as reinstatement of an extinguished behavior or compare the effect with other relapse-related triggers.
A typical study first evaluates cocaine-taking behavior, then extinguishes the previously reinforced response, and finally administers cocaine noncontingently to test for renewed responding. Researchers can compare behavior under control and experimental conditions to determine whether a neural pathway, receptor, or candidate medication alters drug-induced reinstatement. The key outcome is the change in cocaine-seeking after the priming exposure.
Changes in responding after the challenge can indicate whether particular neural pathways or receptor systems contribute to drug-induced reinstatement. Pharmacology experiments may therefore test how manipulating these targets affects cocaine-seeking behavior. Such findings help connect dopamine-related signaling with broader circuit mechanisms and identify biological targets that could influence relapse-related outcomes.
Cocaine priming is useful when investigators want to assess whether a candidate medication reduces reinstatement triggered by cocaine itself. A treatment that changes responding under this condition may be affecting drug-induced relapse mechanisms, although comparisons with cue- or stress-induced models provide additional context. This approach supports pharmacological research focused on preventing cocaine-seeking after abstinence.