Addictive drugs and plasticity of glutamatergic synapses on dopaminergic neurons: what have we learned from genetic mouse models?

Drug-induced changes in the functional properties of neurons in the mesolimbic dopaminergic system are attractive candidates for the molecular underpinnings of addiction. A central question in this context has been how drugs of abuse affect synaptic plasticity on dopaminergic cells in the ventral tegmental area. We now know that the intake of addictive drugs is accompanied by a complex sequence of alterations in the properties of excitatory synapses on dopaminergic neurons, mainly driven by signaling and redistribution of NMDA- and AMPA-receptors. It has, however, been unclear how these molecular changes are related to the behavioral effects of addictive drugs. Recently, new genetic tools have permitted researchers to perform genetic intervention with plasticity-related molecules selectively in dopaminergic cells and to subsequently study the behaviors of genetically modified mice. These studies have started to reveal how plasticity and drug-induced behavior are connected as well as what role plasticity in dopaminergic cells may have in general reward learning. The findings thus far show that there is not a one-to-one relation between plastic events and specific behaviors and that the early responses to drugs of abuse are to a large extent independent of the types of synaptic plasticity so far targeted. In contrast, plasticity in dopaminergic cells indeed is an important regulator of the persistence of behaviors driven by drug associations, making synaptic plasticity in dopaminergic cells an important field of study for understanding the mechanisms behind relapse.