Amphetamine or cocaine exposure may limit brain changes that occur with life e...( Researchers know that certain kinds of ...),Health

Researchers know that certain kinds of experiences, such as those involved in learning, can physically change brain structure and affect behavior. Now, new research in rats shows that exposure to stimulant drugs such as amphetamine or cocaine can impair the ability of specific brain cells to change as a consequence of experience.

"The ability of experiences to alter brain structure is thought to be one of the primary mechanisms by which the past can influence behavior and cognition," says NIDA Director Dr. Nora D. Volkow. "However, when these alterations in brain structure are produced by drugs of abuse, they may lead to the development of compulsive patterns of drug-seeking behaviors that are the hallmark of addiction."

NIDA-funded researchers Dr. Bryan Kolb and colleagues at the University of Lethbridge in Canada and Dr. Terry Robinson and colleagues at the University of Michigan conducted this study, which will be published during the week of August 25th on the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Web site.

The researchers conducted a series of experiments to examine how drugs of abuse and experience might interact to produce changes in brain structure. To accomplish this, they administered amphetamine, cocaine, or saline repeatedly for 20 days to individually housed rats. This pattern of drug administration was previously shown by these investigators to produce both behavioral changes in response to the drugs and structural changes in several brain regions. However, in the current study, the researchers went one step further. After the 20-day drug exposure, the rats were housed in a new environment for 3 to 3.5 months. Half of the drug- and saline-injected animals were placed in standard laboratory cages; the other animals in each group were housed in a complex environment. The environment contained a variety of stimuli: multiple levels with ramps, bridges, and a climbing chain; tunnels; and toys that were rearranged once a we
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Contact: Michelle Person
mperson@mail.nih.gov
301-443-6245
NIH/National Institute on Drug Abuse
25-Aug-2003

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