Department of Psychology, The University of Texas at Austin, 108 E. Dean Keeton Stop A8000, Austin, TX, 78712-1043, USA.
Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2019 Jan;236(1):507-515. doi: 10.1007/s00213-018-5073-7. Epub 2018 Oct 20.
Females are considered more susceptible to the reinforcing effects of drugs and subsequently at increased risk for drug abuse and relapse after treatment. Estrogen is known to facilitate drug effects in females. However, other factors which contribute to the incidence of drug abuse are important to identify in order to recognize early risk factors and develop effective prevention and treatment schemes. Cue-directed behavior (aka sign tracking) has been implicated as a behavioral phenotype which identifies populations susceptible to drug abuse, partly due to its association with impulsivity and heightened dopamine function.
In this study, we investigate the viability of conditioned orienting (a form of cue-directed behavior) as a potential phenotype which predicts drug proclivity in female rats. In addition, we examine any influence endogenous female hormones across the estrous cycle may have on conditioned orienting and drug proclivity.
Utilizing an amphetamine-conditioned place preference task, results suggest that the orienting phenotype is an effective predictor of drug proclivity in females. Rats exhibiting enhanced orienting behavior show more robust preference for an amphetamine-associated context and are more resistant to extinction of this preference than nonorienting counterparts. Furthermore, both conditioned orienting behavior and conditioned place preference are minimally influenced by the estrous cycle.
女性被认为更容易受到药物的强化作用的影响，因此在治疗后滥用药物和复发的风险增加。雌激素已知可促进女性的药物作用。然而，为了识别早期风险因素并制定有效的预防和治疗方案，还有其他一些导致药物滥用的因素也很重要。线索引导的行为（又名标记追踪）被认为是一种行为表型，可以识别易受药物滥用影响的人群，部分原因是它与冲动和多巴胺功能增强有关。
在这项研究中，我们调查了条件定向（一种线索引导行为）作为一种潜在表型的可行性，这种表型可以预测雌性大鼠对药物的倾向。此外，我们还研究了内源性女性激素在整个发情周期内对条件定向和药物倾向的可能影响。
利用安非他命条件性位置偏好任务，结果表明，定向表型是女性药物倾向的有效预测指标。表现出增强的定向行为的大鼠对与安非他命相关的环境表现出更强的偏好，并且比非定向大鼠更能抵抗这种偏好的消退。此外，条件定向行为和条件位置偏好都受发情周期的影响最小。
