Lateral preoptic area neurons signal cocaine self‐administration behaviors

The lateral preoptic area is implicated in numerous aspects of substance use disorder. In particular, the lateral preoptic area is highly sensitive to the pharmacological properties of psychomotor stimulants, and its activity promotes drug‐seeking in the face of punishment and reinstatement during abstinence. Despite the lateral preoptic area's complicity in substance use disorder, how precisely lateral preoptic area neurons signal the individual components of drug self‐administration has not been ascertained. To bridge this gap, we examined how the firing of single lateral preoptic area neurons correlates with three discrete elements of cocaine self‐administration: (1) drug‐seeking (pre‐response), (2) drug‐taking (response) and (3) receipt of the cocaine infusion. A significant subset of lateral preoptic area neurons responded to each component with a mix of increases and decreases in firing‐rate. A majority of these neurons signal the operant response with increases in spiking, though responses during the drug‐seeking, taking and reciept windows were highly correlated. We examined how the firing of single lateral preoptic area neurons correlated with cocaine‐seeking, cocaine‐taking, and the receipt of cocaine infusions. Subsets of preoptic area neurons responded to each event or multiple events, with most response patterns tied to the operant response.