“Under some conditions, stress, rather than directly triggering cocaine seeking, potentiates reinstatement to other stimuli, including a subthreshold cocaine dose.
Endocannabinoid signaling is increased by stress and regulates synaptic transmission in brain regions implicated in motivated behavior.
The objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that cannabinoid type 1 receptor (CB1R) signaling is required for stress-potentiated reinstatement of cocaine seeking in rats…
These findings demonstrate that footshock stress increases prefrontal cortical endocannabinoids and stress-potentiated reinstatement is CB1R-dependent, suggesting that CB1R is a potential therapeutic target for relapse prevention, particularly in individuals whose cocaine use is stress-related.”