Protracted abstinence from extended cocaine self-administration is associated with hypodopaminergic activity in the VTA but not in the SNc

The chronic relapsing nature of cocaine addiction suggests that chronic cocaine exposure produces persistent neuroadaptations that may be temporally and regionally dynamic in brain areas such as the dopaminergic (DA) system. We have previously shown altered metabolism of DA-target structures, the ventral and dorsal striatum, between early and late abstinence.