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Experimental Analysis of Behavior Commons

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Full-Text Articles in Experimental Analysis of Behavior

A Quantitative Analysis Of The Value-Enhancing Effects Of Nicotine, Bupropion, And Varenicline In Male And Female Rats, Scott Barrett Dec 2014

A Quantitative Analysis Of The Value-Enhancing Effects Of Nicotine, Bupropion, And Varenicline In Male And Female Rats, Scott Barrett

Department of Psychology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Smoking and tobacco dependence are serious health concerns in the United States and globally. Reward via the pharmacological effects of nicotine are believed to be the principal motivating factor that drive tobacco dependence. Research reveals differences in sensitivity between males and females to the motivational effects of nicotine in tobacco use. Enhancement of reinforcement value of non-nicotine rewards contributes to overall nicotine reward. Similar value-enhancing effects have been observed by the two most commonly prescribed smoking cessation aids, bupropion and varenicline. The present dissertation investigated the value-enhancing effects of nicotine, bupropion and varenicline in both male and female rats using …


Conditioned Response Evoked By Nicotine Conditioned Stimulus Preferentially Induces C-Fos Expression In Medial Regions Of Caudate-Putamen, Sergios Charntikov, Matthew E. Tracy, Changjiu Zhao, Ming Li, Rick A. Bevins Jan 2012

Conditioned Response Evoked By Nicotine Conditioned Stimulus Preferentially Induces C-Fos Expression In Medial Regions Of Caudate-Putamen, Sergios Charntikov, Matthew E. Tracy, Changjiu Zhao, Ming Li, Rick A. Bevins

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Nicotine has both unconditioned and conditioned stimulus properties. Conditioned stimulus properties of nicotine may contribute to the tenacity of nicotine addiction. The purpose of this experiment was to use neurohistochemical analysis of rapidly developing c-Fos protein to elucidate neurobiological loci involved in the processing of nicotine as an interoceptive conditioned stimulus (CS). Rats were injected (SC) in an intermixed fashion with saline or nicotine (16 sessions of each) and placed in conditioning chambers where they were given one of the three conditions depending on group assignment: (a) nicotine paired 100% of the time with intermittent access to sucrose (nicotine-CS condition), …