Targeting Brain Pathway May Ease Nicotine Withdrawal

Because unpleasant withdrawal symptoms substance nicotine addiction's precocious relapse rate, targeting their underlying mechanisms pinch treatments whitethorn beforehand continued abstinence from nan drug. In a caller JNeurosci paper, Alexis Monical and Daniel McGehee, from nan University of Chicago, explored a neural pathway for nicotine withdrawal symptoms stemming from nan interpeduncular nucleus (IPN) to nan laterodorsal tegmentum (LDTg). 

The researchers antecedently recovered that precocious doses of nicotine interact pinch nan IPN to origin unpleasant effects that trim intake of nan supplier successful mice. Other researchers person linked nan IPN to nicotine withdrawal symptoms. This nucleus inhibits nan LDTg, which is emerging arsenic a encephalon region that supports reward processing. 

In their caller paper, Monical and McGehee looked astatine neural activity successful nan LDTg arsenic mice interacted pinch caller objects and discovered that mice going done nicotine withdrawal had weaker LDTg responses to these objects. The researchers predicted that nicotine withdrawal whitethorn trigger nan inhibitory projection from nan IPN to nan LDTg. In support of this prediction, artificially inhibiting nan pathway-thus expanding LDTg activity-reduced withdrawal symptoms and accrued interactions pinch caller objects. 

The authors are excited to create strategies for targeting this pathway to alleviate unpleasant symptoms and perchance beforehand continued abstinence from nicotine.