MODULATION OF ALCOHOL REINFORCEMENT

对酒精和其他毒品的上瘾仍然是一个主要问题 具有严重的社会和健康相关后果的问题。 目前关于酒精中毒病因学的基础研究是建立在 这种复杂的行为模式是共同的前提 由有机体(包括遗传)、环境和 经验变量。这里提出的研究特别是 关注环境和经验所扮演的角色 对生理效应的调节，这可能是至关重要的 参与调节酒精摄入量和确定 强化酒精的价值。最近的研究表明， 环境温度可能会影响酒精 实验动物的消耗量。这一效应似乎是由于 与环境温度和环境温度之间的反向关系 对酒精的体温过低反应。我们的具体假设是 酒精摄入量取决于其热效应的大小。 当随之而来的体温大幅下降时 摄入酒精，随后的消费就会减少， 显然是由于味觉厌恶状况所致。但是，如果 酒精引起的体温降低可通过暴露在温暖的 环境温度，酒精的令人厌恶的后果 似乎在减少。这里提出的实验将 系统考察环境温度和环境温度的影响 酒精剂量对三种酒精强化行为的影响：口腔 自我给药、条件化味觉厌恶和条件化 放置偏好/厌恶。他们将提出几个替代方案 对环境温度影响的解释，包括 动机、药代动力学或其他方面可能发生的变化 酒精的生理/生化效应。这项研究可能 最终确定酒精对人的情感 酒精的特性和特定的生理作用。此链接 将证明增加对酒精的降温作用的研究是合理的 它在过度饮酒和过度饮酒中的可能作用 酗酒。这项研究的长期目标是增加我们的 对生物行为过程的理解 规范酒精摄入量，以提高我们的认识 酗酒。这种努力应该有助于我们认识到增加的 酗酒的风险，设计出更有效率和效果的 酒精中毒的治疗方法，并概述更有效的 预防策略。

Addiction to alcohol and other drugs continues to be a major problem with serious societal and health-related consequences. Current basic research on the etiology of alcoholism is based on the premise that this complex behavior pattern is jointly determined by organismic (including genetic), environmental and experiential variables. The research proposed here is especially concerned with the roles played by environment and experience in the modulation of physiological effects that may be critically involved in regulating alcohol intake and in determining the reinforcing value of alcohol. Recent studies have indicated that ambient environmental temperature may affect alcohol consumption in laboratory animals. This effect appears to be due to the inverse relationship between ambient temperature and the hypothermic response to alcohol. Our specific hypothesis is that alcohol intake is regualted by the magnitude of its thermal effect. When there is a large drop in body temperature following ingestion of alcohol, subsequent consumption is reduced, apparently as a result of taste aversion condition. However, if alcohol-induced hypothermia is blocked by exposure to a warm ambient temperateure, the aversive consequences of alcohol appear to be reduced. The experiments proposed here will systematically examine the effects of ambient temperature and alcohol dose on three types of alcohol-reinforced behavior: oral self administration, conditioned taste aversion and conditioned place preference/aversion. They will addres several alternative exdplanations of the effect of ambient temperature, including possible changes in motivation, pharmacokinetics or other physiological/biochemical effects of alcohol. This research may eventually identify an important link between alcohol's affective properties and a specific physiological effect of alcohol. This link would justify increased study of alcohol's hypothermic effect and its possible role in the development of excessive drinking and alcoholism. The long-term goal of this research is to increase our understanding of the biobehavioral processes involved in the regulation of alcohol intake in order to improve our understanding of alcoholism. Such efforts should help us to recognize increased risk of alcohol abuse, to devise more efficient and effective treatments for alcoholism and to outline more effective prevention strategies.