A primary feature of drug addiction is the compulsive use despite negative consequences.A general consensus is emerging on the capacity of addictive substances to co-opt synaptic transmission and synaptic plasticity in brain circuits which are involved in reinforcement and reward processing.A current hypothesis is that drug-driven neuroadaptations during learning and memory processes divert look trail fusion pedals the functions of these brain circuits, eventually leading to addictive behaviors.Metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs) not only lead to long-term modulation of synaptic transmission but they have been implicated in drug-evoked synaptic thy art is murder oslo plasticity and drug-seeking behaviors in two important ways.mGluR-dependent modulation of synaptic transmission is impaired by drug experience but interestingly their activation has been indicated as a strategy to restore baseline transmission after drug-evoked synaptic plasticity.
Here we focus on the cellular mechanisms underlying mGluR-dependent long-term changes of excitatory synapses, and review results implicating these receptors in drug-evoked synaptic plasticity.