(A) Schematic illustration of the combinatorial virus approach employed in our study.
(B) Placement map showing hM4Di-mCherry expression in the PVT (each animal represented at 8% opacity).
(C and D) Chemogenetic inhibition of the PVT→NAc pathway with the DREADD agonist J60 reduced cocaine-induced Fos expression in hM4Di-mCherry-expressing neurons (vehicle [Veh], n = 10; J60, n = 12).
(E) Timeline employed for the behavioral experiment.
(F and G) Chemogenetic inhibition of the PVT→NAc pathway reduces heroin relapse after abstinence (F; n = 11) but not extinction training (G; n = 12) from heroin self-administration. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01 versus vehicle.
Scale bars, 50 μm. Data are shown as mean ± SEM.