Dr. Antonello Bonci Q & A: Lighting Up the Brain To Shut Down Cocaine Seeking
Dr. Antonello Bonci, Scientific Director of NIDA’s Intramural Research Program (IRP), talks about switching off animals’ compulsive cocaine seeking by optogenetically activating the prefrontal cortex, and the implications of this work for people. His comments supplement a NIDA Notes article. NIDA Notes: What did your study show? Dr. Antonello Bonci, NIDA IRP Dr. Bonci: We found that we could turn rats into compulsive cocaine seekers by shutting down activity in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and make them quit seeking cocaine by reactivating the PFC. This suggests that there is a switch-point in