Effects of functional disconnection of the basolateral mygdala and dorsal hippocampus following cocaine memory eactivation on subsequent drug context-induced cocaine-seeking behavior in rats
Stimulus control over instrumental drug seeking relies on the reconsolidation of context-response-drug associations into long-term memory following retrieval-induced destabilization. According to previous studies, the basolateral amygdala (BLA) and dorsal hippocampus (DH) regulate cocaine-related memory reconsolidation; however, it is not known whether these brain regions interact or independently control this phenomenon. In the present study, using the contextual rodent extinction-reinstatement paradigm, we demonstrate that disruption of intrahemispheric (disconnection), but not interhemispheric (ipsilateral control), interactions between the BLA and DH following cocaine-related memory reactivation impaired subsequent drug context-induced cocaine-seeking behavior in rats. Furthermore, post-reactivation BLA/DH disconnection inhibited the development of a time-dependent increase, or incubation, of drug context-induced cocaine seeking following an extended delay, despite some recovery of cocaine-seeking behavior. Thus, the BLA and DH interact to regulate the reconsolidation of cocaine-related memories, thereby facilitating the ability of drug-paired contexts to trigger cocaine seeking and contributing to the incubation of cocaine seeking
