Contextual cues linked to drug experience have been frequently associated to craving and relapse, with this phenomenon being described in human and experimental animals. Hippocampal synaptic plasticity has been related to learning and adaptive processes developed during chronic administration of drug abuse. Leading authors suggest the existence of a common neurobiological mechanism mediating drug addiction and memory. In a previous paper, we demonstrated that the environmental context associated with withdrawal experience was able to evoke similar behavioral alteration observed after chronic benzodiazepine administration. Furthermore, we studied the hippocampal synaptic plasticity and anatomical expression of Arc protein during withdrawal and during the re-exposure to the context associated with anxiety expression, a characteristic sign of withdrawal.
Considering all these facts, the major challenge of this work was to find out if memory induced by drugs of abuse and evoked by the contextual cues linked to the withdrawal experience, could be affected by changes in the contextual cues mentioned. In order to associate this memory with the hippocampus temporary participation and continue identifying the cellular mechanisms supporting the plastic changes, responsible for the maintenance of memory trace.
Preliminary results indicate that changing the contextual cues during the re-exposure on day 15 prevented the retrieval of this memory and the plastic phenomenon observed, demonstrating the participation of the hippocampus in the maintenance of this memory until that time.
