Incentive Properties of Abused Drugs

描述(申请人提供)：与药物有关的刺激可引起吸毒者对药物的渴望，并与复发有关。药物滥用治疗的一个重要目标是减少或消除这些线索对个人的控制。这里提出的这项研究的目标是使用动物模型来开发可以用于有效治疗药物线索的程序。具体地说，我们将研究暂时恢复或放大非强化产生的预期结果错误信号的技术，以此作为增强药物寻找的消退和条件性抑制的手段。这项拟议研究的第一个目的是开发一种方法，通过使用药物相关刺激和非药物相关刺激的组合来增加在消退学习过程中产生的错误信号，从而加深药物线索的消退。第二个目标是创造类似的程序，加深对寻求毒品的条件性抑制。第三个目标是通过药理学的方式加深药物线索的消失--在将先前熄灭的药物线索暴露于额外的、广泛的灭绝之前，恢复该药物线索的效果。实现这些目标可以(1)提供对通过行为和药理学干预加强戒毒和条件抑制的方法的洞察，以及(2)形成针对药物滥用的有效的基于戒毒的治疗的经验基础，药物滥用是一个主要的公共卫生问题。公共卫生相关性：拟议的研究将调查减少并最终消除与毒品相关的刺激对吸毒者的影响的方法。这类刺激已被证明会导致对药物的渴望，并与复发有关。因此，这项研究可能会导致开发有效的药物滥用治疗方法，这是一个主要的公共卫生问题。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Drug-related stimuli can elicit drug craving in drug abusers and have been implicated in relapse. An important objective of drug abuse treatment is to reduce or eliminate the control that these cues have over individuals. The goal of the research proposed here is to use an animal model to develop procedures that can be used to effectively treat drug cues. Specifically, we will investigate techniques for temporarily restoring or amplifying the expectation-outcome error signal produced by non-reinforcement as a means of enhancing extinction and conditioned inhibition of drug seeking. The first aim of the proposed research is to develop a way to deepen the extinction of drug cues by using combinations of drug- as well as non-drug- related stimuli to increase the error signal generated during extinction learning. A second aim is to create similar procedures that deepen the conditioned inhibition of drug seeking. A third aim is to deepen the extinction of drug cues by pharmacologically-reinstating the effects of a previously extinguished drug cue prior to exposing that cue to additional, extensive extinction. Achieving these aims could (1) provide insight into ways of enhancing the extinction and conditioned inhibition of drug seeking via behavioral and pharmacological interventions, and (2) form the empirical basis for the creation of an effective extinction- based treatment for drug abuse, a major public health problem. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The proposed research will investigate methods for reducing and ultimately eliminating the power that drug-associated stimuli have over drug users. Such stimuli have been shown to produce drug craving and have been implicated in relapse. Therefore, this research could lead to the development of effective treatments for drug abuse, a major public health problem.