Examination of factors mediating the transition to behaviorally correlated nucleus accumbens cell firing during cocaine self-administration sessions in rats

Abstract We have previously reported that at the initiation of cocaine self-administration sessions, neurons in the nucleus accumbens (NA) exhibit a spontaneous transition in firing rate from activity unrelated to the reinforced response, to one of four types of patterned discharges (Carelli RM, King VC, Hampson RE, Deadwyler SA. Firing patterns of nucleus accumbens neurons during cocaine self-administration in rats. Brain Res 1993;626:14–22; Carelli RM, Deadwyler SA. Dose-dependent transitions in nucleus accumbens cell firing and behavioral responding during cocaine self-administration sessions in rats. J Pharm Exp Ther 1996;277(1):385–393; Carelli RM, Deadwyler SA. Cellular mechanisms underlying reinforcement-related processing in the nucleus accumbens: electrophysiological studies in behaving animals. Pharmacol Biochem Behav 1997;57:(2)1–10). This transition in NA cell firing is cocaine dose-dependent and is accompanied by a shift from high response rates at the start of the session (‘Load-up’ behavior) to a lower steady rate of responding thereafter (termed ‘Session’ phase responding). Two experiments were conducted to examine further factors that may mediate this process. Experiment 1 examined the effects of pre-session, response-independent delivery of cocaine on behavioral/neural transitions. Results revealed an absence of Load-up responding and the immediate onset of NA patterned activity at the start of the session. Experiment 2 examined the involvement of dopamine D 1 versus D 2 receptors in mediating the corresponding behavioral/neural transitions. Animals were pretreated with either saline, the dopamine D 1 receptor antagonist SCH23390 (2.5–20 μg/kg, SC), or the dopamine D 2 receptor antagonist eticlopride (2.5–20 μg/kg, SC) 30 min prior to the cocaine (0.33 mg/inf) self-administration session. SCH23390 significantly increased the number of Load-up responses at 10 and 20 μg/kg and the number of responses following the Load-up phase (i.e. during the Session phase) at 5, 10, and 20 μg/kg. Eticlopride increased the number of Session responses (5, 10, and 20 μg/kg), but did not alter the number of Load-up responses at any dose tested. The transition in NA cell firing corresponded with the shift in behavioral responding and was delayed within the session following SCH23390 but not eticlopride pretreatment. These findings support the notion that cocaine self-administration sessions in rats consists of two distinct behavioral phases that are mediated by different neurophysiological mechanisms operating in the NA.