Designer receptors show role for ventral pallidum input to ventral tegmental area in cocaine seeking.

The authors show that rostral ventral pallidum projections to the ventral tegmental area (VTA) are activated during cue-induced reinstatement of cocaine seeking, and DREADD inhibition of these projections blocks this behavior. In contrast, projections from the caudal ventral pallidum are necessary for cocaine-primed, but not cue-induced, reinstatement of cocaine seeking.