Evidence map›Paper›PMID 22754497›Full record

ArticleFrontiers in molecular neuroscience2012

Calcium-permeable AMPA receptors in the VTA and nucleus accumbens after cocaine exposure: when, how, and why?

Marina E Wolf, Kuei Y Tseng

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Frontiers in molecular neuroscience, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 150 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
150citing papers in PubMed
6.2field-weighted citation impact, top 2% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

150 citing papers in PubMed, 203 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. The neuroimmune-glutamate hypothesis of addiction.Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews · 2026
    Review
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Review
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Changes in nucleus accumbens core translatome accompanying incubation of cocaine craving.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2025
    Article
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. Review
  13. Epac2-mediated synaptic insertion of CaNeuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2025
    Article
  14. Article
  15. Review
  16. Review
  17. Article
  18. Article
  19. Article
  20. Article

90 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Marina E WolfDepartment of Neuroscience, Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, North Chicago IL, USA.
Kuei Y Tseng
Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science · US

Funding

Reversal of AMPA receptor plasticity underlying incubation of cocaine cravingR01DA009621 · NIDA · ROSALIND FRANKLIN UNIV OF MEDICINE &SCI · PI Marina Elizabeth Wolf · 1996 to 2026
$8.5M
Monoaminergic regulation of prefrontal cortex inhibition during adolescenceR01MH086507 · NIMH · UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT CHICAGO · PI Kuei-Yuan Tseng · 2010 to 2026
$5.7M
Dopamine and Glutamate Receptor InteractionsR37DA015835 · NIDA · ROSALIND FRANKLIN UNIV OF MEDICINE &SCI · PI WOLF, MARINA ELIZABETH · 2003 to 2012
$2.8M
Synaptic mechanisms maintaining persistent cocaine craving.R01DA015835 · NIDA · ROSALIND FRANKLIN UNIV OF MEDICINE & SCI · PI WOLF, MARINA ELIZABETH · 2014 to 2018
$1.8M
Psychostimulants and PlasticityK05DA029099 · NIDA · ROSALIND FRANKLIN UNIV OF MEDICINE & SCI · PI WOLF, MARINA ELIZABETH · 2010 to 2014
$622k
NIDA NIH HHS K05 DA029099NIDA NIH HHS R01 DA009621NIDA NIH HHS R01 DA015835NIDA NIH HHS R37 DA015835NIMH NIH HHS R01 MH086507
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

In animal models of drug addiction, cocaine exposure has been shown to increase levels of calcium-permeable AMPA receptors (CP-AMPARs) in two brain regions that are critical for motivation and reward-the ventral tegmental area (VTA) and the nucleus accumbens (NAc). This review compares CP-AMPAR plasticity in the two brain regions and addresses its functional significance. In VTA dopamine neurons, cocaine exposure results in synaptic insertion of high conductance CP-AMPARs in exchange for lower conductance calcium-impermeable AMPARs (CI-AMPARs). This plasticity is rapid in onset (hours), GluA2-dependent, and can be observed with a single cocaine injection. Whereas it is short-lived after experimenter-administered cocaine, it persists for months after cocaine self-administration. In addition to strengthening synapses and altering Ca(2+) signaling, CP-AMPAR insertion alters subsequent induction of plasticity at VTA synapses. However, CP-AMPAR insertion is unlikely to mediate the increased DA cell activity that occurs during early withdrawal from cocaine exposure. Metabotropic glutamate receptor 1 (mGluR1) exerts a negative influence on CP-AMPAR accumulation in the VTA. Acutely, mGluR1 stimulation elicits a form of LTD resulting from CP-AMPAR removal and CI-AMPAR insertion. In medium spiny neurons (MSNs) of the NAc, extended access cocaine self-administration is required to increase CP-AMPAR levels. This is first detected after approximately a month of withdrawal and then persists. Once present in NAc synapses, CP-AMPARs mediate the expression of incubation of cue-induced cocaine craving. The mechanism of their accumulation may be GluA1-dependent, which differs from that observed in the VTA. However, similar to VTA, mGluR1 stimulation removes CP-AMPARs from MSN synapses. Loss of mGluR1 tone during cocaine withdrawal may contribute to CP-AMPAR accumulation in the NAc. Thus, results in both brain regions point to the possibility of using positive modulators of mGluR1 as treatments for cocaine addiction.

Indexed as

addictioncalcium-permeable AMPA receptorcocainenucleus accumbensventral tegmental area

Identifiers

PMID22754497
PMCPMC3384237
OpenAlexW2150375400

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.