ACOUSTIC STARTLE AND COCAINE USE IN RATS Open Access
Wheeler, Marina Georgia (2011)
Abstract
Abstract
ACOUSTIC STARTLE AND COCAINE USE IN RATS
Cocaine addiction is the compulsive use of cocaine despite the
negative consequences of doing so and a desire to abstain.
Identifying individual factors that can predict vulnerability to
abuse cocaine is an important aim of scientific investigation and
can be used to develop early interventions directed towards at risk
populations as well as for the development of animal models which
more appropriately reflect the disorder. Interestingly, men
addicted to cocaine but no longer using cocaine exhibit markedly
diminished acoustic startle amplitudes. These decreased startle
amplitudes could precede or be a consequence of cocaine use however
the evidence available does not suggest that they are the
consequence. There is no evidence for or against the alternative,
that low acoustic startle precedes cocaine use. This dissertation
project investigates the potential value of acoustic startle
amplitudes in predicting vulnerability to abuse cocaine using a rat
intravenous model of cocaine self-administration. Results show that
rats with drug naïve low startle amplitudes are more sensitive
to cocaine, motivated, persistent in cocaine seeking and more
likely to reinstate extinguished cocaine seeking compared to high
startle rats. Low startle rats also exhibit a significant
preference for novel environments, a behavioral phenotype
previously shown to predict habitual cocaine self-administration in
rats. These data suggest that low startle may precede cocaine abuse
and therefore predict the likelihood to abuse cocaine.
ACOUSTIC STARTLE AND COCAINE USE IN RATS
By
Marina Georgia Wheeler
B.S. Georgia State University, 2005
M.A. Emory University, 2009
Advisor: Michael Davis, Ph.D.
A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the
James T. Laney School of Graduate Studies of Emory University
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
in Psychology
2011
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Table of Contents...i
List of Figures...ii
Chapter 1: General Introduction...1
Chapter 2: Sensitivity to Cocaine...17
Chapter 3: Motivation and Reinstatement...39
Chapter 4: Acoustic Startle, Novelty Preference and Persistence in
Cocaine Seeking...61
Chapter 5: General Discussion...79
Supplement A: Acoustic Startle Amplitudes Pre- and Post-Cocaine
Self-Administration...90
List of Figures
Baseline acoustic startle amplitudes in high and low startle:
Sensitivity to cocaine...35
Acquisition of operant responding...36
Dose Response Curve...37
Percent change in responses on the active versus inactive
lever...38
Baseline acoustic startle in high and low startle: Motivation to
obtain cocaine...57
Acquisition of operant responding...58
Progressive ratio schedule...59
Drug and cue reinstatement of cocaine seeking...60
Acoustic startle in low and high startle rats: Novelty
Preference...75
Novelty preference...76
Acoustic startle in low and high startle rats: Cocaine
Seeking...77
Persistence in cocaine seeking...78
Acoustic startle in low and high startle rats: Amphetamine
Challenge...112
Amphetamine potentiated acoustic startle amplitudes pre- and
post-cocaine self-administration...113
Amphetamine potentiated % change in startle amplitudes...114
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