Nicotine and hippocampus-dependent learning: Implications for addiction

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

60 Scopus citations

Abstract

Addiction is a complex disorder because many factors contribute to the development and maintenance of addiction. One factor is learning. For example, drug-context associations that develop during drug use could facilitate drug craving upon re-exposure to contexts previously associated with drugs. Additionally, deficits in cognitive processes associated with withdrawal could precipitate relapse in attempts to ameliorate those deficits. Because addiction and learning involve common neural areas and cell signaling cascades, addiction-related changes in processes underlying plasticity may contribute to addiction. This article examines similarities between addiction and learning at the behavioral, neural, and cellular levels, with emphasis on the neural substrates underlying the effects of acute nicotine, chronic nicotine, and withdrawal from chronic nicotine on hippocampus-dependent contextual learning.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)93-107
Number of pages15
JournalMolecular Neurobiology
Volume34
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 2006

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Neurology
  • Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Nicotine and hippocampus-dependent learning: Implications for addiction'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this