Cocaine must enter the brain to evoke unconditioned dopamine release within the nucleus accumbens shell.

In addition to blocking dopamine (DA) uptake, cocaine also causes an unconditioned increase in DA release. In drug naive rats, this effect is most robust within the nucleus accumbens (NAc) shell. Recent studies have shown that, in rats trained to self-administer cocaine, cocaine may act in the periphery to enhance mesolimbic DA release. Further, these studies have suggested that peripheral cocaine action may also enhance unconditioned DA release. Here, we test if it is necessary for cocaine to enter the brain to evoke unconditioned increases in DA release within the NAc shell. Administration of a cocaine analogue that crosses the blood brain barrier (cocaine HCl) enhances electrically evoked DA release and the number of cocaine-evoked phasic DA release events (i.e., DA transients) within the NAc shell. However, administration of a cocaine analogue that does not cross the blood brain barrier (cocaine MI) does not alter either measure. We therefore conclude that cocaine must act within the central nervous system to evoke unconditioned DA release within the NAc shell.