Cited by 90Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on BehaviorNeuroscience and Neuropharmacology ResearchNeural and Behavioral Psychology Studies

Illicit dopamine transients: reconciling actions of abused drugs

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Covey, Dan P., Roitman, Mitchell F., Garris, Paul A.·2014·Trends in Neurosciences

Abstract

Phasic increases in brain dopamine are required for cue-directed reward seeking. While compelling within the framework of appetitive behavior, the view that illicit drugs hijack reward circuits by hyper-activating these dopamine transients is inconsistent with established psychostimulant pharmacology. However, recent work reclassifying amphetamine (AMPH), cocaine, and other addictive dopamine-transporter inhibitors (DAT-Is) supports transient hyper-activation as a unifying hypothesis of abused drugs. We argue here that reclassification also identifies generating burst firing by dopamine neurons as a keystone action. Unlike natural rewards, which are processed by sensory systems, drugs act directly on the brain. Consequently, to mimic natural reward and exploit reward circuits, dopamine transients must be elicited de novo. Of available drug targets, only burst firing achieves this essential outcome.

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Crossref · 10.1016/j.tins.2014.02.002

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  • Drugs mimic the dopamine increases produced by phasic dopamine firing associated with rewarding stimuli.

    “In this respect, drugs emulate the increases in dopamine triggered by phasic dopamine firing, which are the firing frequencies of dopamine neurons associated with rewarding stimuli.”

    From Neurobiology of addiction: a neurocircuitry analysis (2016) · cites this paper as [42]

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Authors
Covey, D. P., Roitman, M. F., & Garris, P. A.
Affiliations
  • Illinois State University (US)
  • University of Illinois Chicago (US)
Corresponding author
Garris, Paul A.
Venue
Trends in Neurosciences
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2014-04
Volume
37
Issue
4
Pages
200-210
ISSN
0166-2236 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W1988355411
Cited by
90
References
130
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 9 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 10 · 2016: 16 · 2015: 10 · 2014: 4
FWCI
1.50
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Trends in Neurosciences (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
  • National Science Foundation
  • National Institute on Drug Abuse (DA 024036, R03DA021770, DA025634, R01DA024036, R01DA025634, DA021770)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neuroscience and Neuropharmacology Research
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
Keywords
illicit drug abuse, psychostimulants, dopaminergic neurons, burst firing, dopamine transporter inhibitors, amphetamine, cocaine, reward systems, drug reclassification
MeSH terms
Animals, Brain, Dopamine, Humans, Models, Neurological, Illicit Drugs, Substance-Related Disorders, Dopamine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins, Dopaminergic Neurons

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