Behavior and Behavior Mechanisms Commons^™

Sex Differences In Mood And Anxiety-Related Outcomes In Response To Adolescent Nicotine Exposure, Tsun Hay Jason Ng

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Nicotine dependence is causally linked to increased risk of mood/anxiety disorders in later life. Females are reported to experience a higher prevalence of anxiety/depressive disorders and challenges in smoking cessation therapies, suggesting a potential sex-specific response to nicotine exposure and mood/anxiety disorder risk. However, pre-clinical evidence of sex-specific responses to adolescent nicotine exposure is unclear. Thus, to determine any sex differences in anxiety/depressive-related outcomes, adolescent male and female Sprague Dawley rats received nicotine (0.4 mg/kg; 3x daily) or saline injections for 10 consecutive days, followed by behavioural testing, in-vivo electrophysiology and Western Blot analyses. Our results revealed that adolescent nicotine …

The Effects Of The Aromatase Inhibitor, Letrozole, On Lithium Chloride (Licl)-Induced Conditioned Disgust Behaviour (Anticipatory Nausea) In Male Rats, Vangel Matic

Undergraduate Student Research Internships Conference

Anticipatory Nausea (AN) is a form of classical conditioning in which the effects of a nausea-inducing toxin become associated with a specific environmental context. AN is often experienced by individuals receiving chemotherapy treatment, whereby the emetic effects of the chemotherapy agents become associated with the treatment context (i.e. hospital, clinic), such that exposure to the context alone can cause an individual to experience nausea and potentially withdraw from treatment. Chemotherapy-associated AN is suggested to have a higher incidence in females compared to males.

AN can be represented in a rodent model (conditioned disgust) through the occurrence of conditioned gaping behaviour …