Lewis, but not Fischer rats, escalate cocaine intake during 14 extended access (18 h) self-administration sessions.
Cocaine-induced gene expression changes were observed primarily in the dorsal, but not the ventral, part of the striatum.
Strain differences were observed in basal striatal level of Pomc, Pdyn, Penk, Oprm, Oprk, and Oprd mRNA.
mRNA level of Pdyn and Oprk, in the Dorsal Striatum correlates with individual cocaine intake selectively in Fischer rats.