Stimulus-response functions of the lateral dorsal striatum and regulation of behavior studied in a cocaine maintenance/cue reinstatement model in rats

To investigate potential neurocognitive mechanisms underlying drug-seeking and drug-taking behavior, the effects of reversible lidocaine-induced inactivation of the lateral dorsal striatum (DST) on behavior studied in a drug maintenance/cue reinstatement model were evaluated. This region of the DST was investigated because it selectively regulates stimulus-response learning that is disrupted by 10 microg of bilaterally infused lidocaine. Rats ( n=6) were trained to self-administer 1 mg/kg per infusion cocaine under a second-order schedule of drug delivery. The effects of bilateral lidocaine (30-100 microg) inactivation of the lateral DST were evaluated during drug maintenance tests as well as during tests in which responding was reinstated by cocaine-associated cues presented in combination with a cocaine priming injection. The lower 10 microg dose was used to examine the effects of lidocaine on reinstatement of responding induced by presentation of cues alone. During drug maintenance tests, drug-seeking behavior was significantly increased after inactivation by 100 microg lidocaine. The number of infusions earned did not change. During cue-induced reinstatement tests preceded by a cocaine priming injection, 100 microg lidocaine significantly decreased both drug-seeking behavior and the number of infusion-paired light deliveries earned. During reinstatement tests with cues presented alone, inactivation of the lateral DST by 10 microg lidocaine did not influence either behavior. These findings suggest that stimulus-response functions of the lateral DST may regulate the dose-related effects of self-administered cocaine because the lidocaine-induced changes in behavior during the maintenance and cocaine priming tests resembled the effects of exposure to increasingly lower doses of cocaine, respectively. Given the lack of an effect of lidocaine during the cues-alone tests, the lateral DST does not appear to regulate drug-seeking behavior per se (i.e., responding maintained by drug-associated cues at times when drug is not available).