Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Brief Communication
  • Published:

Neuroadaptation

Incubation of cocaine craving after withdrawal

Nature volume 412, pages 141–142 (2001)Cite this article

Abstract

Relapse to cocaine addiction is frequently associated with subjective reports of craving, a poorly understood state that precedes and accompanies cocaine-seeking behaviours1. It has been suggested2 that over the first few weeks of withdrawal from cocaine, human addicts become sensitized to drug-associated environmental cues that act as external stimuli for craving, although the evidence for this is inconsistent3. Here we provide behavioural evidence from laboratory animals suggesting that the onset of craving is delayed and that craving does not decay, but rather increases progressively, over a two-month withdrawal period.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Persistence of a cocaine-seeking habit as a function of time since the last day of self-administration of cocaine.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Childress, A. R. et al. Am. J. Psychiatry 156, 11–18 (1999).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Gawin, F. H. & Kleber, H. D. Arch. Gen. Psychiatry 43, 107–113 (1986).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Satel, S. L. et al. Am. J. Psychiatry 148, 1712–1716 (1991).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Stewart, J. Prog. Neuropsychopharmacol. Biol. Psychiatry 7, 591–597 (1983).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Shaham, Y., Erb, S. & Stewart, J. Brain Res. Rev. 33, 13–33 (2000).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Grimm, J. W. & See, R. E. Neuropsychopharmacology 22, 473–479 (2000).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. de Wit, H. Exp. Clin. Psychopharmacol. 4, 5–10 (1996).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Sinha, R., Fuse, T., Aubin, L. R. & O'Malley, S. S. Psychopharmacology 152, 140–148 (2000).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Nestler, E. J. Nature Rev. Neurosci. 2, 119–128. (2001).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. White, F. J. & Kalivas, P. W. Drug Alcohol Depend. 51, 141–153 (1998).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Sarnyai, Z., Shaham, Y. & Heinrichs, S. C. Pharmacol. Rev. (in the press).

  12. Vanderschuren, L. J. & Kalivas, P. W. Psychopharmacology 151, 99–120 (2000).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Robinson, T. E. & Berridge, K. C. Brain Res. Rev. 18, 247–291 (1993).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Behavioral Neuroscience Branch, Intramural Research Program, National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health, 5500 Nathan Shock Drive, Baltimore, 21224, Maryland, USA

    Jeffrey W. Grimm, Bruce T. Hope, Roy A. Wise & Yavin Shaham

Authors
  1. Jeffrey W. Grimm
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Bruce T. Hope
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Roy A. Wise
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Yavin Shaham
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yavin Shaham.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Grimm, J., Hope, B., Wise, R. et al. Incubation of cocaine craving after withdrawal. Nature 412, 141–142 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038/35084134

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/35084134

This article is cited by

Comments

By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing