Pharmacology, biochemistry, and behavior
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Pharmacol. Biochem. Behav. · Jul 2009
Escalation of food-maintained responding and sensitivity to the locomotor stimulant effects of cocaine in mice.
Escalation of drug self-administration is a consequence of extended drug access and is thought to be specifically related to addiction, but few studies have investigated whether intake of non-drug reinforcers may also escalate with extended-access. The goal of these studies was to determine the effects of limited and extended-access to food reinforcers on behavioral and pharmacological endpoints in mice. In distinct groups, responding on a lever was maintained by liquid reinforcement, or nose-poke responses were maintained by sucrose pellets or liquid food in sessions lasting 1 h (limited-access) or 10 h (extended-access). ⋯ Finally, extended reinforcer access leading to behavioral escalation was accompanied by an increased sensitivity to the psychostimulant effects of cocaine compared to limited-access. These findings indicate that behavioral escalation can develop as a consequence of extended-access to a non-drug reinforcer, although both the nature of the reinforcer (liquid versus solid food) and the topography of the operant response (lever versus nose-poke) modulate its development. These data also suggest that some of the behavioral and pharmacological corrolaries of behavioral escalation observed following extended-access to drug self-administration may not be due to drug exposure, but rather, may result from basic behavioral processes which underlie operant responding maintained by appetitive stimuli.
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Pharmacol. Biochem. Behav. · Jul 2009
Transient forebrain over-expression of CRF induces plasma corticosterone and mild behavioural changes in adult conditional CRF transgenic mice.
Converging findings support a role for extra-hypothalamic CRF in the mediation of the stress response. The influence of CRF in the amygdala is well established, while less is known of its role in other areas of the forebrain where CRF and CRF(1) receptors are also expressed. In the present study CRF was genetically induced to allow forebrain-restricted expression in a temporally-defined manner at any time during the mouse lifespan. This mouse model may offer the possibility to establish a model of the pathogenesis of recurrent episodes of depression. ⋯ Transient induction of CRF expression in mouse forebrain was associated with endocrine and mild anxiety-like behavioural changes consistent with enhanced central CRF neurotransmission. This mouse allows the implementation of regimens with longer or repeated periods of induction which may model the initial stages of the pathology underlying recurrent depressive disorders.