The present study applied inhibitory optogenetics to the circuitry underlying relapse to cocaine seeking and tested hypotheses regarding obligatory involvement of the projection from the prelimbic cortex (PL) to the core subcompartment of the nucleus accumbens core (NAcore) (Kalivas, Volkow & Seamans 2005). Pharmacological inactivation of either the PL or the NAcore prevents reinstated cocaine seeking (Kalivas et al. 2005). While this work implies a relationship between the PL and NAcore, pharmacological inactivation cannot isolate a role for axonal projections between nuclei.
