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Discriminative stimulus properties of the atypical antipsychotic clozapine and the typical antipsychotic chlorpromazine in a three-choice drug discrimination procedure in rats.

RATIONALE: The atypical antipsychotic drug (APD) clozapine elicits a robust discriminative cue that is generally selective for other atypical APDS in two-choice drug discrimination (DD) procedures. OBJECTIVES: The present study determined whether a three-choice DD procedure with the atypical APD clozapine (CLZ) versus the typical APD chlorpromazine (CPZ) versus vehicle (VEH) could provide greater selectivity between atypical and typical APDs. METHODS: Sprague-Dawley rats were trained to discriminate 5.0 mg/kg CLZ from 1.0 mg/kg CPZ from VEH in a three-lever DD task with an FR30 food reinforcement schedule. RESULTS: Generalization testing with CLZ produced CPZ-appropriate responding at lower doses (ED50=0.103 mg/kg) and CLZ-appropriate responding at higher doses (ED50=1.69 mg/kg). Generalization testing with the atypical APD olanzapine produced similar results. In contrast, the atypical APD risperidone and the typical APDs CPZ and haloperidol produced only CPZ-appropriate responding. The muscarinic antagonist scopolamine produced CPZ-appropriate responding at lower doses and CLZ-appropriate responding at higher doses in a manner similar to CLZ and olanzapine. The co-administration of haloperidol (0.00625 mg/kg) with scopolamine shifted the dose-response curve for CLZ-appropriate responding to the left. The 5-HT(2A/2C) antagonist ritanserin and the H1 histamine antagonist pyrilamine did not substitute for either CLZ or CPZ. The alpha1 adrenergic antagonist prazosin did not substitute for CLZ, but produced full substitution for CPZ. CONCLUSIONS: The three-choice DD procedure clearly distinguished the atypical APDs CLZ and olanzapine from the typical APDs CPZ and haloperidol; however, the stimulus properties of the atypical APD risperidone were similar to CPZ, but not to CLZ. These findings further suggest that CLZ, as well as CPZ, elicits a compound cue.

Animals↗

Effect of methamphetamine self-administration on tyrosine hydroxylase and dopamine transporter levels in mesolimbic and nigrostriatal dopamine pathways of the rat.

RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES: Many studies have examined the effect of experimenter-delivered methamphetamine on the mesolimbic and nigrostriatal dopamine pathways. In contrast, little is known about the effect of methamphetamine self-administration on these neuronal pathways. We studied the effect of methamphetamine self-administration on two key regulators of dopamine transmission, tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), and dopamine transporter (DAT), in components of the mesolimbic and nigrostriatal dopamine pathways. METHODS: Rats self-administered methamphetamine (0.1 mg/kg per infusion, fixed-ratio-1 reinforcement schedule) or saline (control condition) for 9 h/day over 10 days. The brains of these rats were collected after 1 or 30 days of forced abstinence and the expression levels of TH and DAT were assayed by in situ, hybridization and western blot. RESULTS: TH mRNA and protein levels were increased in the ventral tegmental area (VTA, the cell body region of the mesolimbic dopamine system) and the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNC, the cell body region of the nigrostriatal dopamine system) after 1 day, but not 30 days, of forced abstinence from methamphetamine. In contrast, methamphetamine self-administration had no effect on TH protein levels in dopaminergic terminals located in the nucleus accumbens and caudate-putamen. In addition, methamphetamine self-administration had no effect on DAT mRNA levels in the VTA. CONCLUSIONS: Results suggest that extended daily access to self-administered methamphetamine results in a transient, short-lasting effect on mesolimbic and nigrostriatal dopamine neurons of the rat brain.

Animals↗

Tonic dopamine: opportunity costs and the control of response vigor.

RATIONALE: Dopamine neurotransmission has long been known to exert a powerful influence over the vigor, strength, or rate of responding. However, there exists no clear understanding of the computational foundation for this effect; predominant accounts of dopamine's computational function focus on a role for phasic dopamine in controlling the discrete selection between different actions and have nothing to say about response vigor or indeed the free-operant tasks in which it is typically measured. OBJECTIVES: We seek to accommodate free-operant behavioral tasks within the realm of models of optimal control and thereby capture how dopaminergic and motivational manipulations affect response vigor. METHODS: We construct an average reward reinforcement learning model in which subjects choose both which action to perform and also the latency with which to perform it. Optimal control balances the costs of acting quickly against the benefits of getting reward earlier and thereby chooses a best response latency. RESULTS: In this framework, the long-run average rate of reward plays a key role as an opportunity cost and mediates motivational influences on rates and vigor of responding. We review evidence suggesting that the average reward rate is reported by tonic levels of dopamine putatively in the nucleus accumbens. CONCLUSIONS: Our extension of reinforcement learning models to free-operant tasks unites psychologically and computationally inspired ideas about the role of tonic dopamine in striatum, explaining from a normative point of view why higher levels of dopamine might be associated with more vigorous responding.

Animals↗

5-HT2C receptors are involved in the discriminative stimulus effects of citalopram in rats.

Rats were trained on a fixed ratio 10, food-reinforced schedule to recognize a discriminative stimulus (DS) elicited by the selective serotonin (5-HT) reuptake inhibitor (SSRI), citalopram (2.5 mg/kg, IP). The preferential, high efficacy agonist at 5-HT2C receptors, Ro60-0175, dose-dependently generalized to citalopram with an ED50 of 0.3 mg/kg, IP. Further, the selective 5-HT2C receptor antagonist, SB242,084, dose-dependently (ED50=0.1 mg/kg, IP) blocked the citalopram DS. These data suggest that 5-HT2C receptors are involved in the DS properties of the SSRI, citalopram, in rats. They do not, however, exclude a potential role of other 5-HT receptor types.

Animals↗

Self-administration of intravenous amphetamine: effect of nucleus accumbens CCKB receptor activation on fixed-ratio responding.

RATIONALE: The mesolimbic dopamine (DA) system is implicated in psychostimulant drug self-administration. The neuropeptide cholecystokinin (CCK) is co-localised with DA and inhibits nucleus accumbens (NAcc) DAergic neurotransmission via CCKB receptors. OBJECTIVES: The present experiment was designed to examine the effects of intra-NAcc CCKB receptor stimulation on fixed-ratio (FR) amphetamine self-administration. METHODS: Wistar rats with intravenous catheters and NAcc cannulae were trained to self-administer amphetamine under a FR3 schedule of reinforcement. Animals performing stable self-administration were microinjected with pentagastrin and assessed during 3-h sessions. RESULTS: Intra-NAcc pentagastrin dose dependently increased amphetamine intake. CONCLUSIONS: These results are consistent with the notion that NAcc CCKB receptor activation attenuates amphetamine reward.

Animals↗

Intravenous self-administration of the cannabinoid CB1 receptor agonist WIN 55,212-2 in rats.

RATIONALE: Delta9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Delta9-THC), the main psychoactive ingredient of marijuana, as well as synthetic cannabinoid (CB1) receptor agonists, has led to negative or equivocal results when tested with the intravenous self-administration procedure, the best validated behavioural model for evaluating abuse liability of drugs in experimental animals. We recently reported, however, that the synthetic CB1 receptor agonist WIN 55,212-2 is intravenously self-administered by drug-naive mice and that its self-administration is blocked by the cannabinoid CB1 receptor antagonist SR 141716A. OBJECTIVE: To assess a reliable model of cannabinoid intravenous self-administration in rats. Long Evans male rats were allowed the opportunity to self-administer WIN 55,212-2 at doses ranging from 6.25 to 50 microg/kg per injection, under a fixed-ratio 1 (FR1) schedule of reinforcement and nose-pokes as the operant responses. The effect of either a change in the unit drug dose available or a pretreatment with the specific CB1 receptor antagonist SR 141716A were then investigated (maintenance phase). Finally, the extinction of the self-administration behaviour was evaluated. RESULTS: Response rate depended on the drug dose available, with maximum rates occurring at 12.5 microg/kg per injection. Response rate increased following pretreatment with the specific CB1 receptor antagonist, SR 141716A. Moreover, operant behaviour rapidly extinguished following both the substitution of saline or vehicle for cannabinoid and the disconnection of the drug delivery pumps. CONCLUSION: Rats will intravenously self-administer the synthetic CB1 receptor agonist WIN 55,212-2 under specific experimental conditions, thus allowing further investigation of the neurobiological mechanisms underlying cannabinoid-taking behaviour.

Analgesics↗

Effects of amphetamine, dexfenfluramine, diazepam, and other pharmacological and dietary manipulations on food "seeking" and "taking" behavior in non-human primates.

RATIONALE: Feeding consists of appetitive or foraging behavior followed by consummatory behavior. OBJECTIVES: To determine if pharmacological manipulations can differentially affect appetitive and consummatory aspects of food intake, and to compare these results to those obtained using naturalistic dietary manipulations. METHODS: Responding of baboons was studied using a schedule of reinforcement that simulated food "seeking" and food "taking." Responding during the seeking component was reinforced by stimuli paired with food, while responding during the taking component was reinforced with food. The effects of intramuscular amphetamine (AMPH), dexfenfluramine (DFEN), diethylpropion (DEP), phencyclidine (PCP), diazepam (DZP), as well as caloric prefeeding and acute food deprivation were determined. RESULTS: AMPH decreased food taking and increased food seeking, DEP decreased food taking without affecting food seeking, DFEN and PCP decreased both food taking and food seeking, while DZP increased both food taking and food seeking. Caloric prefeeding decreased food taking and increased food seeking, i.e., resembled AMPH, while acute deprivation increased both food taking and food seeking, i.e., resembled DZP. CONCLUSIONS: Manipulations that increase dopamine turnover, such as AMPH, increase food seeking, while decreasing food intake. In contrast, manipulations that increase serotonin turnover, such as DFEN, decrease both food seeking and food taking.

Amphetamine↗

The effects of the quality and probability of reinforcement on feeder selection by lobectomized dogs.

The role of the prefrontal cortex was studied in an active selection situation in which dogs had to choose one of two feeders, with changes in the quality and probability of the reinforcement provided in one of the feeders. The study was performed in two stages. Before surgery, animals were trained to place themselves on a start area during the interstimulus interval. Dogs were presented with a conditioned stimulus for investigation of the sequence of selection of feeders with identical reinforcements. After bilateral extirpation of the prefrontal areas (the proreal gyrus), dogs continuously ran from one feeder to the other during the interstimulus period. In response to the conditioned stimulus, the animals repeated the reaction of selecting the same feeder on many occasions during the first few (7-9) days. When there was a conflict between the probability and quality of reinforcement, the dogs came to prefer the feeder with the greater reinforcement quality despite its lower probability of presentation. In our experiments, operated animals presented with food at probabilities of 30% and 100% performed feeder selections with different probabilities. One of the functions of the prefrontal cortex in intact animals would appear to be to support the reaction of selecting the greater probability of reinforcement.

Animals↗

General level of reinforcement.

A concept of General Level of Reinforcement (GLR) is introduced. This concept is defined as the number, quality and duration of reinforcements per unit time. The assumptions of this theory are discussed. A crucial assumption is that the theory is related to psychological and physiological well-being. Ways to measure general level of reinforcement are described, and clinical implications presented. Methods to increase the level of reinforcement, such as covert reinforcement and the Self-Control Triad, are specified. Finally, suggestions for research are provided.

Behavior Therapy↗

Treatment of constipation-caused encopresis by a negative reinforcement procedure.

During a baseline condition soiling and the cumulative number of bowel movements of a child suffering from retentive encopresis were recorded. Following this, a DRO (differential reinforcement of other behavior) alone, a DRO plus overcorrection procedure, and a negative reinforcement procedure were each evaluated using a reversal design. The negative reinforcement procedure, which involved having the child sit on the toilet three times a day for increasing time periods if no bowel movement occurred, suppressed soiling and led to regular unprompted daily bowel movements in a very brief period of time. The DRO alone and DRO plus overcorrection conditions produced only a small decline in soiling.

Behavior Therapy↗