Incubation of cocaine craving after withdrawal (original) (raw)

Neuroadaptation

Nature volume 412, pages 141–142 (2001)Cite this article

Abstract

Relapse to cocaine addiction is frequently associated with subjective reports of craving, a poorly understood state that precedes and accompanies cocaine-seeking behaviours1. It has been suggested2 that over the first few weeks of withdrawal from cocaine, human addicts become sensitized to drug-associated environmental cues that act as external stimuli for craving, although the evidence for this is inconsistent3. Here we provide behavioural evidence from laboratory animals suggesting that the onset of craving is delayed and that craving does not decay, but rather increases progressively, over a two-month withdrawal period.

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Figure 1: Persistence of a cocaine-seeking habit as a function of time since the last day of self-administration of cocaine.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Behavioral Neuroscience Branch, Intramural Research Program, National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health, 5500 Nathan Shock Drive, Baltimore, 21224, Maryland, USA
    Jeffrey W. Grimm, Bruce T. Hope, Roy A. Wise & Yavin Shaham

Authors

  1. Jeffrey W. Grimm
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  2. Bruce T. Hope
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  3. Roy A. Wise
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  4. Yavin Shaham
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Correspondence toYavin Shaham.

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Grimm, J., Hope, B., Wise, R. et al. Incubation of cocaine craving after withdrawal.Nature 412, 141–142 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038/35084134

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