MODULATION OF ALCOHOL REINFORCEMENT

描述：（改编自研究者摘要）该项目是 直接与学习和动机过程有关， 乙醇寻求行为 长期目标是改善我们的 对行为和神经生物学过程的理解 酒精中毒的病因、维持、消除和复发。 的 一般的实验策略包括研究乙醇的动机 口服自我管理和位置条件反射任务的影响， 动物 特别强调的是， 环境刺激和暴露之间的预测关系 乙醇的奖励或厌恶效应。 中央组织假说 这项研究是，乙醇预测刺激有直接影响， 乙醇的激励作用，他们是重要参与， 激励或指导乙醇寻求行为，包括这种现象 在灭绝或禁欲后复发。 一组实验 将研究乙醇预测刺激对条件反射的影响， 在信号自我给药程序中的高热和巴压 使用大鼠和小鼠。 感兴趣的变量包括：蔗糖浓度， CS-乙醇重叠、乙醇通路持续时间与条件强化。 第二组研究将确定乙醇预测的影响， 刺激对大鼠和小鼠条件性位置偏爱和厌恶的影响。 感兴趣的变量包括：剂量、试验次数、CS-乙醇间隔， 基因型和给药途径。 最后一系列的实验将 研究乙醇预测刺激在消退，复发和 预防复发 除了提高我们对 乙醇预测刺激，这些研究将为明显的 乙醇的动机效应的物种差异，并在调查结果， 乙醇预测刺激可以获得相反的动机效果， 同一物种。 更好地了解这些问题对于 利用这些动物模型来研究神经生物学和遗传学的贡献 到酗酒 该项目应有助于将未来的研究重点放在 乙醇寻求行为的神经生物学机制，有助于 开发有益的酒精滥用治疗方法，并促进 确定有效的预防复发战略。 这些研究 可以证明是特别有用的，在评估假定的 旨在减少酒精渴望的药物治疗， 行为干预，以减少乙醇寻求行为。

DESCRIPTION: (Adapted from the Investigator's Abstract) This project is directly concerned with the learning and motivational processes underlying ethanol-seeking behavior. The long-term goal is to improve our understanding of the behavioral and neurobiological process that contribute to the etiology, maintenance, elimination and relapse of alcoholism. The general experimental strategy involves study of ethanol's motivational effects in oral self-administration and place conditioning tasks using animals. Special emphasis will be placed on the learning that results from the predictive relationship between environmental stimuli and exposure to ethanol rewarding or aversive effects. The central organizing hypothesis of this research is that ethanol-predictive stimuli have a direct impact on ethanol's motivational effects and that they are importantly involved in motivating or directing ethanol-seeking behavior, including the phenomenon of relapse after extinction or abstinence. One set of proposed experiments will examine effects of ethanol-predictive stimuli on conditioned hyperthermia and barpressing in a signaled self-administration procedure using rats and mice. Variables of interest include: Sucrose concentration, CS-ethanol overlap, ethanol access duration and conditioned reinforcement. The second set of studies will determine effects of ethanol-predictive stimuli on conditioned place preference and aversion in rats and mice. Variables of interest include: dose, number of trials, CS-ethanol interval, genotype, and route of administration. The final series of experiments will study the role of ethanol-predictive stimuli in extinction, relapse and relapse prevention. In addition to improving our understanding of ethanol-predictive stimuli, these studies will shed new light on apparent species differences in ethanol s motivational effects, and on findings that ethanol-predictive stimuli can acquire opposing motivational effects within the same species. A better understanding of these issues is essential for using these animal models to study neurobiological and genetic contributions to alcoholism. This project should help focus future research on the neurobiological mechanisms of ethanol-seeking behavior, aid in the development of beneficial treatments for alcohol abuse, and facilitate identification of effective relapse prevention strategies. These studies could prove to be especially useful in the evaluation of putative pharmacotherapies intended to reduce alcohol craving and in the design of behavioral interventions to decrease ethanol-seeking behavior.