Individual Variations in the Mechanisms of Nicotine Seeking: A Key for Research on Nicotine Dependence
A new publication in Neuropsychopharmacology by Vernon Garcia-Rivas from Véronique Deroche-Gamonet group
Tobacco use is the net balance between factors promoting smoking maintenance (“seeking mechanisms”) and factors promoting smoking cessation (“motivation to stop”). Even if capturing motivation to stop is a challenge in animal models, they allow exploring mechanisms promoting nicotine seeking and taking. Data support that individual variations in the mechanisms of nicotine seeking contribute to the heterogeneity of the population of tobacco smokers and may explain in part the limited efficacy of current therapeutic strategies for smoking cessation. Conditions are met to study these individual variations and identify their underlying neurobiological mechanisms using preclinical models in rodents. This strategy could increase our ability to develop individual-based therapeutic strategies for tobacco dependence.
Authors : Vernon Garcia-Rivas, Nazzareno Cannella and Véronique Deroche-Gamonet
Neuropsychopharmacology, 31 August 2016