The 5-HT-receptor agonist eltoprazine has a behavioral drug signature that resembles that of a variety of psychostimulant drugs, despite the differences in receptor binding profile. These psychostimulants are effective in treating impulsivity disorders, most likely because they increase norepinephrine (NE) and dopamine (DA) levels in the prefrontal cortex. Both amphetamine and methylphenidate, however, also increase dopamine levels in the nucleus accumbens (NAc), which has a significant role in motivation, pleasure, and reward.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFImpulsive individuals often display an aversion to waiting for rewards. Delay aversion can be quantified in rats in a delayed reward task, in which animals choose between an immediately available, small reward, and a large reward available after a delay. In previous research conducted at our laboratory and in literature, positive correlations between delay aversion and aggression, substance abuse and persistence during extinction of conditioned responses were found.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe validity of the Spontaneously Hypertensive rat (SHR) as a model for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is explored by comparing the SHR with Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) and Wistar rats in a number of different tests. In the open field, SHR are hyperactive compared to both Wistar and WKY, but only at specific ages. At those ages, methylphenidate (1mg/kg) did not attenuate hyperactivity.
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