Lauren K. Dobbs

Cocaine-Enhanced Enkephalin Gates Plasticity of Distinct Striatal Synapses and Facilitates Cue-Induced Cocaine-Seeking During Abstinence

This study shows that cocaine abstinence increases enkephalin in D2-MSNs, reducing GABA release to VP neurons and promoting cocaine seeking.

C57 and DBA mouse strains express distinct cocaine avoidance phenotypes in an operant runway independent of differences in striatal dynorphin-enkephalin balance

The paper tests if striatal dynorphin-enkephalin balance affects cocaine avoidance in mice, finding no significant strain differences or enkephalin necessity.

Shifted balance between ventral striatal prodynorphin and proenkephalin biases development of cocaine place avoidance

The paper investigates the relationship between striatal opioid peptides and cocaine-induced conditioned place avoidance in mice, finding that low dynorphin levels correlate with increased avoidance.

Striatal enkephalin supports maintenance of conditioned cocaine reward during extinction

This study shows that striatal enkephalin is not required for cocaine reward acquisition but is necessary for maintaining the learned association during extinction.

Cholinergic interneurons as a novel target of CRF in the striatum that is spared by repeated stress

The paper identifies cholinergic interneurons as a novel CRF target in the striatum that remains unaffected by repeated stress.