Neural Regeneration Research ›› 2020, Vol. 15 ›› Issue (1): 73-74.doi: 10.4103/1673-5374.264451

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Nicotine-induced dopamine plasticity: a gateway to neurotransmitter replacement?

I-Chi Lai, Davide Dulcis   

  1. Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
  • Online:2020-01-15 Published:2020-05-15
  • Contact: Davide Dulcis, PhD, ddulcis@ucsd.edu.
  • Supported by:
    This work was supported by the Tobacco Related Disease Research Program (TRDRP), No. 27IR-0020 (to DD); the National Institute of Drug Addiction (NIDA), No. R21-DA047455 (to DD), and the Kavli Institute for Brain and Mind (KIBM), No. 2012-008 (to DD).

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Abstract: Nicotine, the principal neuroactive component of tobacco, acts on the reward systems of smokers, inducing addiction. Experimental evidence indicates that nicotine-induced addiction alters the activity of dopaminergic neurons within reward-processing brain centers. The effect of developmental nicotine exposure on neuroplasticity of identified reward neurocircuitry in the adult is finally emerging and begins to be understood at the molecular, cellular, and behavioral level