96-h methamphetamine self-administration elicits striatal dopamine depletion in male and female rats: a model of binge-like use.

Background: Methamphetamine is a psychostimulant with significant public health implications. Chronic methamphetamine use is linked to profound dysregulation of the dopaminergic system, cognitive deficits, and psychiatric symptoms. While traditional experimenter administered "binge" dosing models reliably produce dopaminergic neurotoxicity, they fail to capture the volitional, drug intake characteristic of human methamphetamine use.