Katrina Bartas

eLife Assessment This important study by Bartas and colleagues examined how patterns of monosynaptic input to specific cell types in the ventral tegmental area are altered by addictive drugs. The authors applied a dimensionality reduction approach (principal component analysis) and showed that various addictive drugs, and somewhat surprisingly the anesthesia alone (ketamine/xylasine), caused changes in the distribution of inputs labeled by the transsynaptic rabies virus.

Abstract Use of one addictive drug typically influences the behavioral response to other drugs, either administered at the same time or a subsequent time point. The nature of the drugs being used, as well as the timing and dosing, also influence how these drugs interact. Here, we tested the effects of adolescent THC exposure on the development of morphine-induced behavioral adaptations following repeated morphine exposure during adulthood.

Highlights • Globus pallidus is part of a 4-node circuit controlling cocaine sensitivity • KCNQ3 and KCNQ5 expression is reduced following cocaine administration • Carnosic acid inhibits GPePV cells through activating KCNQ3/5 heteromers • Carnosic acid reduces cocaine reward, sensitization, and self-administration Summary The globus pallidus externus (GPe) is a central component of the basal ganglia circuit that acts as a gatekeeper of cocaine-induced behavioral plasticity.