Regulation of Calcium Impermeable AMPAR Subunit GluA2 in the Amygdala and Striatum of Cocaine-Seeking Rats by TARPs

The use of cocaine and heroin among young Europeans and Americans has been steadily increasing over the past decade (UN World Drug Report, 2018) and as such it has never been more important to understand the mechanisms whereby some individuals switch from recreational controlled drug use to compulsive drug seeking, the hallmark of drug addiction.

This project aims to identify the mechanisms underlying a shift in network processing from recreational to habitual drug-seeking. We aim to identify proposed plasticity mechanisms in the amygdala that rely on modulations of gluatamate receptors.

For this purpose, we will use brain tissue samples from habitually cocaine-seeking rats, as well as electrophysiology in slices and cultures of genetically modified mice.

Combining these approaches will allow us to understand these mechanisms from a molecular, cellular, and behavioural perspective.

Hereby we expect to find potential new drug targets for disengagement of the brain structure driving habitual drug-seeking behaviour.