SELF CONTROL IN DRUG SELF ADMINISTRATION

自我控制通常被定义为行为上的选择较大的，延迟的行为，而不是较小的，更直接的行为。冲动是自我控制的匡威，是冲动障碍的特征，如药物滥用。了解决定个体冲动或自我控制选择的因素以及药物如何影响这些选择，对于许多行为障碍（包括药物滥用）的行为和药理干预的发展至关重要。本研究的目的是利用一个已建立的自我控制模型来检验强化强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施用不同剂量的兴奋剂可卡因（实验1）或兴奋剂美索比妥（实验2），并具有不同的药物输注延迟。在不同的药物强化背景下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，实验将检查非药物背景下发现的一般性。这类信息与对选择的一般理解有关，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.