fMRI of Cocaine Self-Administration in Non-Human Primates

Ji-Kyung Choi¹, Helen Deng¹, Wim Vanduffel¹, Joseph B. Mandeville²

A model of drug self-administration (SA) in non-human primates (NHP) was developed for fMRI to enable longitudinal studies of addiction that assess both the direct effects of cocaine and the neural correlates of drug-seeking behavior. NHP (n=2) were trained to self-administer micro-injections (0.015 mg/kg cocaine) by fixation to a color-coded cue. The timing of the SA paradigm separated 1) responses to drug cues, 2) periods of drug availability, and 3) the direct effects of cocaine. Results showed function inhibition in basal ganglia due to cocaine, and activation of prefrontal cortex associated with cocaine availability.