Increased risky choice during forced abstinence from fentanyl on the cued rat gambling task.

Rationale: The use of illicit opioids has arguably never been more risky; street drug potency can be dangerously high, is often unknown to the consumer, and results in multiple daily fatalities worldwide. Furthermore, substance use disorder (SUD) is associated with increased maladaptive, risky decisions in laboratory-based gambling tasks. Animal studies can help determine whether this decision-making deficit is a cause or consequence of drug use.

Win-Paired Cues Modulate the Effect of Dopamine Neuron Sensitization on Decision Making and Cocaine Self-administration: Divergent Effects Across Sex.

Background: Both psychostimulant use and engagement with probabilistic schedules of reward sensitize the mesocorticolimbic dopamine (DA) system. Such behaviors may act synergistically to explain the high comorbidity between stimulant use and gambling disorder. The salient audiovisual stimuli of modern electronic gambling may exacerbate the situation.

Differential effects of lipopolysaccharide on cognition, corticosterone and cytokines in socially-housed vs isolated male rats.

Social isolation is an established risk factor for mental illness and impaired immune function. Evidence suggests that neuroinflammatory processes contribute to mental illness, possibly via cytokine-induced modulation of neural activity. We examined the effects of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) administration and social home cage environment on cognitive performance in the 5-Choice Serial Reaction Time Task (5CSRTT), and their effects on corticosterone and cytokines in serum and brain tissue.

Serotonin 2C Antagonism in the Lateral Orbitofrontal Cortex Ameliorates Cue-Enhanced Risk Preference and Restores Sensitivity to Reinforcer Devaluation in Male Rats.

Previous research has indicated that reward-paired cues can enhance disadvantageous risky choice in both humans and rodents. Systemic administration of a serotonin 2C receptor antagonist can attenuate this cue-induced risk preference in rats. However, the neurocognitive mechanisms mediating this effect are currently unknown.

Dopamine neurons gate the intersection of cocaine use, decision making, and impulsivity.

Gambling and substance use disorders are highly comorbid. Both clinical populations are impulsive and exhibit risky decision-making. Drug-associated cues have long been known to facilitate habitual drug-seeking, and the salient audiovisual cues embedded within modern gambling products may likewise encourage problem gambling.

Nausea-Induced Conditioned Gaping Reactions in Rats Produced by High-Dose Synthetic Cannabinoid, JWH-018.

Cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome is becoming a more prominently reported side effect of cannabis containing high-dose Δ-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and designer cannabinoid drugs such as "Spice." One active ingredient that has been found in "Spice" is 1-pentyl-3-(1-naphthoyl)indole (JWH-018), a synthetic full agonist of the cannabinoid 1 (CB) receptor. In this study, we evaluated the potential of different doses of JWH-018 to produce conditioned gaping in rats, an index of nausea.

GPR52 agonists attenuate ropinirole-induced preference for uncertain outcomes.

Dopamine D receptor agonists are less likely to trigger dyskinesias than L-dopa while still offering relief from the motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease (PD). However, these drugs can cause serious impulse control problems and gambling disorders. Adjunctive therapies capable of blocking these side effects without impacting the antiparkinsonian effect would be clinically useful.

Conditioned gaping produced by high dose Δ-tetrahydracannabinol: Dysregulation of the hypothalamic endocannabinoid system.

Δ-tetrahydracannabinol (THC) is recognized as an effective treatment for nausea and vomiting via its action on the cannabinoid 1 (CB) receptor. Paradoxically, there is evidence that THC can also produce nausea and vomiting. Using the conditioned gaping model of nausea in rats, we evaluated the ability of several doses of THC (0.

Effect of footshock stress on place conditioning produced by Δ-tetrahydrocannabinol and the fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) inhibitor, URB597, in Sprague-Dawley rats.

Rationale: Unlike other drugs of abuse, Δ-tetrahydrocanabinol (THC) is generally aversive in rodent conditioned place preference models, but little is known about how stress may modify THC affective properties.

Objective: We evaluate the potential of footshock stress to enhance the rewarding effects of THC and the fatty acid amide hydrolase inhibitor, URB597, as it has been shown to enhance their anxiolytic effects.

Materials And Methods: The effect of footshock stress 24 h prior to each conditioning trial on the rewarding/aversive effects of THC (1, 0.