Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Comment
. 2017 Dec 21;4(6):ENEURO.0378-17.2017.
doi: 10.1523/ENEURO.0378-17.2017. eCollection 2017 Nov-Dec.

Boosting of Thalamic D2 Dopaminergic Transmission: A Potential Strategy for Drug-Seeking Attenuation

Fabricio H Do-Monte  1 , Gilbert J Kirouac  2
Affiliations
Comment

Boosting of Thalamic D2 Dopaminergic Transmission: A Potential Strategy for Drug-Seeking Attenuation

Fabricio H Do-Monte et al. eNeuro. .

Abstract

This commentary focuses on novel findings by Clark et al. (2017) published in eNeuro, which show that dopamine D2 receptors (D2Rs) in the paraventricular nucleus of the thalamus (PVT) are involved in cocaine sensitization. We extend the discussion on how their findings contribute to our understanding of the role of the PVT in drug seeking by providing new insight on the role of the PVT in the regulation of food-seeking and fear responses. We also consider the significance of the neuroanatomical findings reported by Clark et al., that the PVT is reciprocally connected with areas of the brain involved in addiction and discuss the implications associated with the source and type of dopaminergic fibers innervating this area of the thalamus.

Keywords: cocaine; dopamine; food seeking; nucleus accumbens; paraventricular thalamus; prefrontal cortex.

PubMed Disclaimer

Comment on

References

    1. Alamilla J, Granados-Fuentes D, Aguilar-Roblero R (2015) The anterior paraventricular thalamus modulates neuronal excitability in the suprachiasmatic nuclei of the rat. Eur J Neurosci 42:2833–2842. 10.1111/ejn.13088 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Barson JR, Leibowitz SF (2015) GABA-induced inactivation of dorsal midline thalamic subregions has distinct effects on emotional behaviors. Neurosci Lett 609:92–96. 10.1016/j.neulet.2015.10.029 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Barson JR, Ho HT, Leibowitz SF (2015) Anterior thalamic paraventricular nucleus is involved in intermittent access ethanol drinking: role of orexin receptor 2. Addict Biol 20:469–481. 10.1111/adb.12139 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bhatnagar S, Huber R, Lazar E, Pych L, Vining C (2003) Chronic stress alters behavior in the conditioned defensive burying test: role of the posterior paraventricular thalamus. Pharmacol Biochem Behav 76:343–349. - PubMed
    1. Browning JR, Jansen HT, Sorg BA (2014) Inactivation of the paraventricular thalamus abolishes the expression of cocaine conditioned place preference in rats. Drug Alcohol Depend 134:387–390. 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2013.09.021 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources