Alterations in adolescent brain serotonin (5HT), 5HT, and dopamine (D) receptor systems in a nonhuman primate model of early life adversity.

Stress affects brain serotonin (5HT) and dopamine (DA) function, and the effectiveness of 5HT and DA to regulate stress and emotional responses. However, our understanding of the long-term impact of early life adversity (ELA) on primate brain monoaminergic systems during adolescence is scarce and inconsistent. Filling this gap in the literature is critical, given that the emergence of psychopathology during adolescence has been related to deficits in these systems.

Sex and social status modify the effects of fluoxetine on socioemotional behaviors in Syrian hamsters and rhesus macaques.

Social subordination increases risk for psychiatric disorders, while dominance increases resilience to these disorders. Fluoxetine, a selective serotonin (5HT) reuptake inhibitor whose actions are mediated in part by the 5HT1A receptor (5HT1AR), has sex- and social status-specific effects on socioemotional behavior and aggressive behavior. However, the impact of social status on these sex-specific effects remains unclear.

Discriminative-Stimulus Effects of Synthetic Cathinones in Squirrel Monkeys.

Background: Synthetic cathinones display overlapping behavioral effects with psychostimulants (e.g., methamphetamine [MA]) and/or entactogens (e.

Effects of early life stress on cocaine intake in male and female rhesus macaques.

Rationale: It is critical to identify potential risk factors, such as a history of early life stress (ELS), that may confer specific vulnerabilities to increased drug intake.

Objective: In this study, we examined whether male and female rhesus monkeys with a history of ELS (infant maltreatment; MALT) demonstrated significantly greater cocaine intake compared with controls.

Methods: Monkeys were trained to self-administer cocaine during 4-h sessions at a peak dose (0.

Effects of early life stress on cocaine self-administration in post-pubertal male and female rhesus macaques.

Rationale: Early life stress (ELS), including childhood maltreatment, is a predictive factor for the emergence of cocaine use disorders (CUDs) in adolescence.

Objective: Accordingly, we examined whether post-pubertal male and female rhesus macaques that experienced infant maltreatment (maltreated, n = 7) showed greater vulnerability to cocaine self-administration in comparison with controls (controls, n = 7).

Methods: Infant emotional reactivity was measured to assess differences in behavioral distress between maltreated and control animals as a result of early life caregiving.

A review of nonhuman primate models of early life stress and adolescent drug abuse.

Adolescence represents a developmental stage in which initiation of drug use typically occurs and is marked by dynamic neurobiological changes. These changes present a sensitive window during which perturbations to normative development lead to alterations in brain circuits critical for stress and emotional regulation as well as reward processing, potentially resulting in an increased susceptibility to psychopathologies. The occurrence of early life stress (ELS) is related to a greater risk for the development of substance use disorders (SUD) during adolescence.

Cocaine impairs serial-feature negative learning and blood-brain barrier integrity.

Previous research has shown that diets high in fat and sugar [a.k.a.

The effects of cannabidiol (CBD) on Δ⁹-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) self-administration in male and female Long-Evans rats.

Despite widespread cannabis use in humans, few rodent models exist demonstrating significant Δ⁹-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) self-administration, possibly due to THC's co-occurring aversive effects, which impact drug reinforcement. Cannabis contains a number of phytocannabinoids in addition to THC, one of which, cannabidiol (CBD), has been reported to antagonize some of the aversive effects of THC. Given such effects of CBD, it is possible that it might influence THC intravenous self-administration in rodents.

Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) history fails to affect THC's ability to induce place preferences in rats.

Rationale: In pre-clinical models of marijuana abuse, there is relatively limited evidence of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol's (THC) rewarding effects, as indexed by its general inability to induce a place preference. One explanation for this failure is that its rewarding effects are masked by its concurrently occurring aversive properties. Consistent with this explanation, THC pre-exposure, which presumably weakens its aversive effects, induces place preferences.

Adolescent delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) exposure fails to affect THC-induced place and taste conditioning in adult male rats.

Background: Adolescent initiation of drug use has been linked to problematic drug taking later in life and may represent an important variable that changes the balance of the rewarding and/or aversive effects of abused drugs which may contribute to abuse vulnerability. The current study examined the effects of adolescent THC exposure on THC-induced place preference (rewarding effects) and taste avoidance (aversive effects) conditioning in adulthood.

Methods: Forty-six male Sprague-Dawley adolescent rats received eight injections of an intermediate dose of THC (3.

Sex differences in 3,4-methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV)-induced taste avoidance and place preferences.

Synthetic cathinones, otherwise known as "bath salts", have gained significant attention in the last few years as a result of increased use and abuse. One such compound, 3,4-methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV), is pharmacologically and behaviorally similar to cocaine and has been shown to possess both aversive and rewarding effects. For a host of other drugs, each of these effects (and their relative balance) can be influenced by a variety of factors, including sex, which in turn impacts drug taking behavior.

Effect of norbinaltorphimine on ∆⁹-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)-induced taste avoidance in adolescent and adult Sprague-Dawley rats.

Rationale: The aversive effects of ∆(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) are mediated by activity at the kappa opioid receptor (KOR) as assessed in adult animals; however, no studies have assessed KOR involvement in the aversive effects of THC in adolescents. Given that adolescents have been reported to be insensitive to the aversive effects induced by KOR agonists, a different mechanism might mediate the aversive effects of THC in this age group.

Objectives: The present study was designed to assess the impact of KOR antagonism on the aversive effects of THC in adolescent and adult rats using the conditioned taste avoidance (CTA) procedure.

Conditioned taste avoidance induced by Δ(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol in the Fischer (F344) and Lewis (LEW) rat strains.

Although Fischer (F344) and Lewis (LEW) rats differ in their sensitivity to the rewarding effects of ∆(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), no data have been reported on differences in their sensitivity to the drug's aversive effects, a limiting factor in drug use and abuse. Examining the degree of differences (if any) in such effects in these strains may help further characterize possible genetic factors important to abuse vulnerability. Accordingly, the aversive effects of THC (1-5.