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Reinforcing Efficacy Of Amphetamine In Adolescent And Adult Male Rats, Lauren Chantel Payne
Reinforcing Efficacy Of Amphetamine In Adolescent And Adult Male Rats, Lauren Chantel Payne
Biology Theses
Rationale: Amphetamine abuse by adolescents predicts long-term drug dependence. Heightened vulnerability to drug abuse could be due to higher sensitivity to drug’s reinforcing effects. Rodents are used to study age-related sensitivities to drugs. Objective: We compared intravenous amphetamine self-administration between adolescent and adult male rats on an operant schedule of reinforcement measuring the reinforcing efficacy of a drug. Methods: After surgery, adolescent and adult rats acquired lever-pressing behavior reinforced by amphetamine infusions. Results: Both age groups exhibited more infusions per session as dose increased. However, neither the number of infusions per session nor total amphetamine intake differed across age groups. …
Age And Sex Differences In The Acquisition And Maintenance Of Intravenous Amphetamine Self-Administration In Rats, Mahin Shahbazi
Age And Sex Differences In The Acquisition And Maintenance Of Intravenous Amphetamine Self-Administration In Rats, Mahin Shahbazi
Biology Theses
Drug abuse peaks during adolescence, and exposure to drugs during adolescence predicts drug abuse in adulthood. Nevertheless, adolescence is not widely studied in animal models of drug intake. Moreover, few studies have investigated sex differences in drug-reinforced behavior during adolescence. We studied age- and sex-differences in acquisition and maintenance of amphetamine self-administration in Sprague-Dawley rats. Adolescent males took more amphetamine than adult males, supporting the hypothesis that adolescents are more sensitive to amphetamine. A high rate of “inappropriate” active lever presses among periadolescent males suggests impulsive behavior. In the maintenance phase of testing, young adult males failed to work as …