Cocaine may cause 'bad' brain boost

Scientists have used a new technique to investigate how cocaine can affect decision-making circuits in the brain
Cocaine boosts learning and decision-making circuits in the brain - but not in a good way, a study has shown.

Using a new technique to peer into the brains of living mice, US scientists witnessed the rapid growth of structures linking memory, drug experience and behaviour. They say the findings shed new light on the way drug dependency can take over people's lives.

Within two hours of being injected with cocaine the brains of the mice started sprouting dendritic spines, twig-like structures that connect neurons. The "fast and robust" growth occurred in the frontal cortex, which controls higher functions such as planning and decision-making.

It coincided with a dramatic change in the rodents' behaviour. Given the choice of two environments, mice switched preferences to the one where they had received the cocaine shot. "This gives us a possible mechanism for how drug use fuels further drug-seeking behaviour," said Dr Linda Wilbrecht, who led the research at the University of California at San Francisco.




"When given the choice, most of the mice preferred to explore the side where they had the cocaine, which indicated that they were looking for more cocaine," said Dr Wilbrecht. "Their change in preference for the cocaine side correlated with gains in new persistent spines that appeared on the day they experienced cocaine.



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