Chronic cocaine use is associated with glutamatergic and other neurometabolic alterations: a proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy study

Introduction: Cocaine addiction is a chronically relapsing disorder that is associated with harmful consequences. Effective pharmacotherapies are sparse and the frequently occurring relapses remain a major challenge in the treatment of cocaine use disorder. Preclinical studies suggest that altered glutamatergic signaling from the prefrontal cortex to the nucleus accumbens core is crucial for the maintenance of cocaine-seeking. More specifically, rats showed significantly reduced extracellular glutamate levels in the nucleus accumbens core after extinction from repeated cocaine self-administration and increased s…