The hot ‘n’ cold of cue-induced drug relapse

Environmental cues associated with rewards can acquire motivational properties. However, there is considerable variation in the extent to which a reward cue gains motivational control over behavior, depending on the individual and the form of the cue. When a discrete cue is paired with food reward, it acquires greater control over motivated behavior in some rats (sign-trackers, STs) than others (goal-trackers, GTs) as indicated by the propensity to approach the cue, the willingness to work to obtain it, and its ability to reinstate reward-seeking behavior. Here, we review studies that employ this ST/GT animal model to investigate characteristics of individuals that are especially susceptible to reward cue-elicited behavior and the involvement of dopamine and acetylcholine neuromodulator systems in the susceptibility to cue-induced drug relapse. First, we discuss individual differences in the attribution of incentive salience to different forms of reward cues and the involvement of the mesolimbic dopamine system. We then discuss individual differences in cognitive/attentional control and the contributions of the cholinergic system in processing reward cues. It is suggested that in STs a propensity to attribute motivational properties to a drug cue is combined with poor attentional control in the face of these cues, making them particularly vulnerable to transition from casual/experimental patterns of drug use to addiction and to cue-induced relapse.