Université de Fribourg

BDNF signaling in the VTA links the drug-dependent state to drug withdrawal aversions

Vargas-Perez, Hector ; Bahi, Amine ; Bufalino, Mary Rose ; Ting-A-Kee, Ryan ; Maal-Bared, Geith ; Lam, Jenny ; Fahmy, Ahmed ; Clarke, Laura ; Blanchard, Jennifer K. ; Larsen, Brett R. ; Steffensen, Scott ; Dreyer, Jean-Luc ; Kooy, Derek van der

In: The Journal of Neuroscience, 2014, vol. 34, no. 23, p. 7899–7909

Drug administration to avoid unpleasant drug withdrawal symptoms has been hypothesized to be a crucial factor that leads to compulsive drug-taking behavior. However, the neural relationship between the aversive motivational state produced by drug withdrawal and the development of the drug-dependent state still remains elusive. It has been observed that chronic exposure to drugs of abuse increases...

Université de Fribourg

Infusion of brain-derived neurotrophic factor into the ventral tegmental area switches the substrates mediating ethanol motivation

Ting-A-Kee, Ryan ; Vargas-Perez, Hector ; Bufalino, Mary-Rose ; Bahi, Amine ; Dreyer, Jean-Luc ; Tyndale, Rachel F. ; Kooy, Derek van der

In: European Journal of Neuroscience, 2012, p. -

Recent work has shown that infusion of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) into the ventral tegmental area (VTA) promotes a switch in the mechanisms mediating morphine motivation, from a dopamine-independent to a dopamine-dependent pathway. Here we showed that a single infusion of intra-VTA BDNF also promoted a switch in the mechanisms mediating ethanol motivation, from a dopamine-dependent...