Preclinical pharmacology of amphetamine: implications for the treatment of neuropsychiatric disorders.

The primary mechanism by which amphetamine exerts its neurobehavioral effects is through an enhancement of synaptic monoamine levels, which is mediated by interactions with monoamine transporters, storage, and metabolism. However, preclinical data are now emerging that support more widespread neurobiologic effects for amphetamine. This review describes preclinical evidence suggesting that direct interactions of amphetamine with monoamine systems, which results in increased synaptic monoamine availability, has downstream effects on nonmonoaminergic systems, including glutamate, endogenous opioid, endocannabinoid, and acetylcholine systems.

Increased alcohol drinking in isolate-housed alcohol-preferring rats.

Alcoholism is a complex disorder influenced by interactions between genetic and environmental risk factors. This study examined the influence of isolate housing on ethanol intake in alcohol-preferring (P) and non-alcohol-preferring (NP) rats. Rats were isolate-housed or pair-housed for 8 weeks when between 45 and 96 days old.

Two-choice reaction time performance in Sprague-Dawley rats exposed to alcohol during adolescence or adulthood.

Adolescent alcohol abusers display subtle attention impairments. This study used a two-choice reaction time task to examine the effects of ethanol on sustained attention following adult or adolescent exposure. Sprague-Dawley rats were exposed to ethanol vapor for 14 days starting on postnatal day 30 (adolescence) or 60-64 (adulthood) and were then trained to perform the two-choice reaction time task.

Neurobehavioral profiles during the acute phase of ethanol withdrawal in adolescent and adult Sprague-Dawley rats.

Rationale: Adolescent and adult rats show differential sensitivity to many of the effects of ethanol.

Objectives: The current studies were designed to further explore differences in the development of ethanol dependence by examining anxiety-like behavior, acoustic startle, prepulse inhibition, and EEG activity during the acute phase of ethanol withdrawal.

Methods: Male Sprague-Dawley rats were exposed to ethanol vapor (12h/day for 14 days) during adolescence or adulthood.

The effects of social isolation on neuropeptide Y levels, exploratory and anxiety-related behaviors in rats.

NPY is one of the most abundantly expressed peptides within the CNS, and has been previously demonstrated to be altered in several animal models of depression, as well as to be differentially regulated by acute and repeated stress. The effect of social deprivation, through isolation housing, on brain NPY concentrations in adult rats has not been previously investigated. The effects of 12 weeks of social isolation, in adult rats, on anxiety-related behaviors and central concentrations of NPY in: hypothalamus, amygdala, caudate-putamen, hippocampus, and frontal cortex were evaluated.