SELF CONTROL IN DRUG SELF ADMINISTRATION

自我控制在行为上经常被定义为选择较大的、延迟的增强剂而不是较小的、更直接的增强剂。冲动是自我控制的反面，是药物滥用等冲动障碍的特征。了解决定个人冲动或自我控制选择的因素，以及药物如何影响这些选择，对于开发针对包括药物滥用在内的许多行为障碍的行为和药物干预措施至关重要。本研究的目的是使用已建立的自我控制模型来检验强化程度和延迟对吸毒的影响。在离散试验程序中工作的恒河猴将被允许自我注射不同剂量的兴奋剂可卡因(实验1)或镇静剂甲氧己胺(实验2)，并设置不同的药物输注延迟。在不同的药物强化环境中获得的数据的定量描述将是可能的，并将允许检查药物维持的行为的自我控制模型。此外，这些实验将检验非药物环境中发现的一般性。这些信息总体上与对选择的理解有关，并最终与药物滥用治疗或预防的潜在发展有关。

Self-control is frequently defined behaviorally as a choice for a larger, delayed reinforcer over a smaller, more immediate reinforcer. Impulsivity is the converse of self-control and characterizes impulse disorders like drug abuse. An understanding of the factors that determine an individual's impulsive or self- control choices, and how drugs affect those choices, is crucial to the development of behavioral and pharmacological interventions for many behavioral disorders, including drug abuse. The purpose of this research proposal is to examine the effects of reinforcement magnitude and delay on drug taking using an established model of self-control. Rhesus monkeys working in a discrete-trials procedure will be allowed to self-administer different doses of a stimulant, cocaine (Experiment 1) or a depressant, methohexital (Experiment 2) with different sets of delays to drug infusion. A quantitative description of the data obtained in different drug reinforcement contexts will be possible and will allow examination of the self- control model for behavior maintained by drugs. Further, the experiments will examine the generality of findings from non-drug contexts. Such information has relevance to the understanding of choice in general, and ultimately to the potential development of treatments for, or prevention of, drug abuse.