Dr. Antonieta Lavin
Biographical Information

Pilot Grant - Effects of Cocaine Self Administration on Cortical Activity

We have previously reported that chronic cocaine administration alters the bistability of the cortical cells, (Trantham, H et al., Neuroscience, 2002). However, can acute cocaine also alter pyramidal cell bistability? We found that acute cocaine administration evokes a prolonged membrane depolarization, decreases cortical spontaneous firing, compromises spontaneous membrane bistability, and blunts the VTA-evoked responses in the PFC. Moreover, acute cocaine administration decreases the amplitude of the EPSP-IPSP sequence that precedes the initiation of the Up states in the PFC, therefore compromising the driving force of cortical bistability and thereby cortical excitability. These results were reported in Neuropsychopharmacology (Trantham-Davidson and Lavin, 2004).