Lasting Effects of Cocaine on Cognition and Motivation

描述（由申请人提供）： 对吸毒成瘾者的研究表明，可卡因的使用与认知和动机的改变有关。 与药物成瘾相关的认知改变包括决策和根据可能结果的价值选择适当反应的障碍。动机改变包括通过奖励和奖励预测线索来增强对行为的控制。动物研究已经开始建立可卡因暴露和这种改变之间的因果关系，有人提出，药物暴露导致的认知和动机的改变可能会协同作用，促进药物成瘾。然而，可卡因对这两种功能的影响之间的关系尚不清楚。本研究旨在探讨可卡因对基于可能结果的价值的反应的损害效应与其对奖励相关线索的行为控制的增强效应之间的关系。 具体而言，给予各种可卡因暴露条件的大鼠将在评估这两种功能的行为任务上进行测试。本实验的结果将确定a）是否在广泛的可卡因暴露条件下观察到基于结果值的受损反应和通过奖励相关线索的增强行为控制，以及B）可卡因对这些功能的影响是否相关。这些发现将用于指导未来的研究调查可卡因暴露的认知和动机后果之间的相互作用的神经系统。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Research in drug addicts shows that cocaine use is associated with alterations in cognition and motivation. Cognitive alterations associated with drug addiction include impairments in decision-making and choosing appropriate responses based on the value of likely outcomes. Motivational alterations include enhancements in the control over behavior by rewards and cues predictive of reward. Animal research has begun to establish causal links between cocaine exposure and such alterations, and it has been proposed that alterations in cognition and motivation resulting from drug exposure may act synergistically to promote drug addiction. However, the relationship between cocaine's effects on these two functions is unclear. This proposal is designed to investigate the relationship between cocaine's impairing effects on responding based on the value of likely outcomes and its enhancing effects on control of behavior by reward-related cues. Specifically, rats given various cocaine exposure conditions will be tested on a behavioral task that assesses both of these functions. The results of this experiment will determine a) whether both impaired responding based on outcome value and enhanced behavioral control by reward-related cues are observed across a wide range of cocaine exposure conditions, and b) whether cocaine's effects on these functions are correlated. These findings will be used to guide future research investigating the neural systems underlying interactions between cognitive and motivational consequences of cocaine exposure.