Use of the overexpectation effect to reduce conditioned seeking behavior controlled by nicotine.

Nicotine produces robust stimulus effects that can be conditioned to form associations with reinforcing nondrug stimuli. We examine how established associations to the nicotine stimulus may be weakened via the overexpectation effect. In two experiments, we separately conditioned sucrose associations to the interoceptive nicotine stimulus (0.

"A robust and simple catheter connector assembly for long-term self-administration experiments".

Intravenous self-administration in rats is used widely to study the reinforcing effects of drugs and serves as the gold standard for assessing their use and misuse potential. One challenge that researchers often encounter when scaling up experiments is balancing the cost, time investment to construct, and robustness of each implanted catheter. These catheters include multiple components such as surgical meshing and a variety of entry ports designed to facilitate the connection of the rat to a catheter port tethering system.

Repeated exposure to physiologically effective doses of contraceptive hormones ethinyl estradiol or levonorgestrel do not alter the reinforcing effects of a brief visual stimulus in ovary-intact rats.

Estradiol and progesterone potentiate and attenuate reward processes, respectively. Despite these well-characterized effects, there is minimal research on the effects of synthetic estrogens (e.g.

Varenicline but not cotinine increased the value of a visual stimulus reinforcer in rats: No evidence for synergy of the two compounds.

Smoking is the leading cause of preventable death worldwide, with <7 % of smoking cessation attempts being met with success. Nicotine, the main addictive agent in cigarettes, enhances the reinforcing value of other environmental rewards. Under some circumstances, this reward enhancement maintains nicotine consumption.

Appetitive Pavlovian conditioning of the stimulus effects of nicotine enhances later nicotine self-administration.

Nicotine produces robust stimulus effects that can be conditioned to exert stimulus control over behavior through associative learning. Additionally, nicotine has weak reinforcing effects that are inconsistent with its prevalence of use and the tenacity of nicotine dependence. The present study investigated whether conditioned associations to the nicotine drug stimulus may confer additional reinforcing strength to nicotine that thereby increase its use liability, and presents a new methodological approach to investigating the interaction between the stimulus effects and reinforcing effects of drugs.

Understanding the stimulus effects of nicotine and bupropion in a drug-drug discriminated goal-tracking task.

Rationale: Bupropion is a non-nicotine medication for smoking cessation that has overlapping stimulus effects with nicotine as demonstrated in drug discrimination studies. Whether these shared stimulus effects will alter acquisition or maintenance of a discrimination between nicotine and bupropion is unknown.

Objective: We sought to test this possibility using the drug discriminated goal-tracking (DGT) task and whether discrimination training history affected generalization and substitution tests.

Investigating sex differences and the effect of drug exposure order in the sensory reward-enhancing effects of nicotine and d-amphetamine alone and in combination.

Nicotine enhances the rewarding effects of other environmental stimuli; this reward-enhancement encourages and maintains nicotine consumption. Nicotine use precedes other psychostimulant use, but receiving a stimulant prescription also predicts future smoking. Previously, no study has investigated effects of drug exposure order in reward-enhancement, nor with nicotine and d-amphetamine.

The Sugars in Alcohol Cocktails Matter.

While sugar consumption and alcohol drinking have traditionally been studied by different basic science fields, most commercially available flavored alcoholic beverages are sweetened with some kind of sugar. The prevailing view is that these sugars potentiate drinking by making the alcohol taste better, particularly for adolescents, overlooking that some central nervous system circuits implicated in alcohol drinking are also sensitive to brain penetrant sugars like glucose. In this Viewpoint, we highlight the need for basic researchers to carefully consider how the sugars mixed with alcoholic beverages may impact the neurochemical and biological mechanisms influencing alcohol drinking and the development of alcohol use disorder.

Reward-enhancing effects of d-amphetamine and its interactions with nicotine were greater in female rats and persisted across schedules of reinforcement.

Nicotine enhances the value of environmental stimuli and rewards, and reward enhancement can maintain nicotine consumption. Stimulants such as d-amphetamine are misused more by women and are commonly co-used with nicotine. d-Amphetamine potentiates nicotine's effects in human and animal research.

Female rats display higher methamphetamine-primed reinstatement and c-Fos immunoreactivity than male rats.

Methamphetamine (meth) dependence is often characterized by persistent and chronic relapse (i.e., return to drug use).

The importance of acquisition learning on nicotine and varenicline drug substitution in a drug-discriminated goal-tracking task.

Nicotine and varenicline (Chantix®; the leading non-nicotine cessation pharmacotherapy) can come to control appetitive behaviors such as goal-tracking. We tested rats (N = 48) in a drug-discriminated goal-tracking (DGT) task where each rat received daily subcutaneous injections of either nicotine (0.4 mg/kg) or saline (0.

Varenicline rescues nicotine-induced decrease in motivation for sucrose reinforcement.

Varenicline is one of the top medications used for smoking cessation and is often prescribed before termination of nicotine use. The effect of this combined nicotine and varenicline use on the reward system and motivation for primary reinforcement is underexplored. The goal of this study was to assess the effects of nicotine and varenicline on motivation for a food reinforcer.

Conditioned enhancement of the nicotine reinforcer.

This study was designed to assess whether nicotine can acquire additional reinforcing properties through associations with other rewards. To this end, rats self-administered nicotine-alone (0.01 mg/kg) or nicotine paired with access to sucrose during the conditioning phase.

Sex Differences in the Reward-Enhancing Effects of Nicotine on Ethanol Reinforcement: A Reinforcer Demand Analysis.

Background: Alcohol is often consumed with tobacco, and dependence to alcohol and tobacco are highly comorbid. In addition, there are differences in the prevalence of nicotine- and alcohol-abuse between the sexes. Nicotine produces enhancing effects on the value of other reinforcers, which may extend to alcohol.

Exploring the interoceptive stimulus effects of nicotine and varenicline.

Learning processes associated with nicotine influence the development of addiction to tobacco products. In the present report, we are interested in the interoceptive stimulus effects of nicotine acquiring control over appetitive behaviors - specifically, reward seeking. Also of interest is the current smoking cessation drug, varenicline (Chantix®).

Effects of nicotine conditioning history on alcohol and methamphetamine self-administration in rats.

Background: Smoking constitutes a significant public health risk. Alcohol and methamphetamine use disorders are also highly co-morbid with smoking, further increasing negative health outcomes. An important question in determining the underlying neurobiology of nicotine poly-drug use is understanding whether having a positive history with nicotine effects alters later drug-taking behavior.

Experimental analysis of behavior and tobacco regulatory research on nicotine reduction.

With the signing of H.R. 1256, the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gained regulatory authority over the tobacco industry.

A behavioral economic analysis of the value-enhancing effects of nicotine and varenicline and the role of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in male and female rats.

Reinforcement value enhancement by nicotine of non-nicotine rewards is believed to partially motivate smoking behavior. Recently, we showed that the value-enhancing effects of nicotine are well characterized by reinforcer demand models and that the value-enhancing effects of the smoking-cessation aid bupropion (Zyban) are distinct from those of nicotine and differ between the sexes. The present study evaluated potential sex differences in the enhancement effects of nicotine and varenicline (Chantix) using a reinforcer demand methodology.

Caring about Power Analyses.

Everyone should care deeply about statistical power and effect size given that the current estimates of wasted nonreproducible and exaggerated research findings range from 50 to 85%, combined with the mandates from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) that proposal reviewers focus on scientific rigor and investigators consider sex as a biological variable. In this Viewpoint, we provide recommendations and resources regarding power analyses aimed at enhancing rigor, and hence decreasing waste, when designing experiments. As part of this effort, we also make recommendations for reporting key statistics that will aid others in estimating sample size based on published research.

Nicotine- and cocaine-triggered methamphetamine reinstatement in female and male Sprague-Dawley rats.

Preclinical studies have demonstrated a return to methamphetamine (meth)-seeking behavior (reinstatement) induced by injections of meth administered by the experimenter (drug-prime). Notably, females tend to be more sensitive to drug-prime; often displaying more reinstatement behavior when compared to males. While meth-primed reinstatement of meth-seeking behavior has been established, little is known about the ability of other drugs of abuse to substitute for meth during drug-primed reinstatement; nicotine and cocaine were the focus of the present work.

Laboratory Notes From Behavioral Pharmacologists and Trainees: Considerations for the Discipline.

In several laboratory meetings, we discussed the challenges that face trainees in behavioral pharmacology. Major concerns, such as a difficult funding climate and limited academic job prospects were discussed at first. However, we decided to concentrate on ways to meet these challenges; versus focusing on negatives and listing gripes.

The effects of varenicline on methamphetamine self-administration and drug-primed reinstatement in male rats.

Methamphetamine (meth) addiction is a costly burden to both the individual user and society as a whole. Establishing effective pharmacotherapies to treat meth dependence is needed to help solve this health problem. The study reported herein examined the effects of varenicline, a partial α4β2 and full α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor agonist, on meth self-administration and reinstatement in male Sprague-Dawley rats.

Sex differences and the role of dopamine receptors in the reward-enhancing effects of nicotine and bupropion.

Rationale: Nicotine and bupropion have been demonstrated to enhance the value of other reinforcers, and this may partially account for nicotine reward and dependence. Evidence suggests that the sexes differ in their sensitivity to the primary and secondary reinforcing effects of nicotine and nicotine-associated stimuli. Whether the sexes also differ in sensitivity to the reward-enhancing effects of nicotine (and bupropion) is yet unclear.

The effects of varenicline on methamphetamine self-administration and drug-primed reinstatement in female rats.

While research has revealed heightened vulnerability to meth addiction in women, preclinical models rarely use female subjects when investigating meth seeking and relapse. The goal of the present study was to examine the effects of varenicline (Chantix(®)), a partial α4β2 and full α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor agonist, on meth self-administration and reinstatement in female rats. Sprague-Dawley rats were surgically implanted with an indwelling jugular catheter.