Acetylcholine and dopamine interact in the medial prefrontal cortex to modulate cocaine-associated memory

PASTOR VERONICA; DALTO, JULIANA F.; ANTONELLI, MARTA C.; MEDINA, JORGE

Congreso; XXXVII SAN Annual Congress; 2022

Neuromodulation of the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) is essential for cortical control of behaviors induced by appetitive stimuli, such as cue-induced seeking behavior after the formation of drug-context associative memories. We have recently reported that the antagonism of mPFC alpha 7 nicotinic receptors (nAChRs) by methyllycaconitine (MLA) blocked cue-induced cocaine memory retrieval in a non-transient manner. However, the interaction between modulatory systems in the mPFC and their role in memory processing is a question which remains unanswered. Previous work showed that the activation of alpha 7 nAChRs in the mPFC increases dopamine release and that dopamine signaling through D1 receptors (D1R) is necessary for cocaine memory retrieval. Thus, we hypothesized that cholinergic signaling through alpha 7 nAChRs is needed in the mPFC to allow cue-induced cocaine memory retrieval by interacting with dopaminergic D1R activation.