Incentive Properties of Abused Drugs

描述（由申请人提供）：药物相关刺激可以引起药物滥用者的药物渴望，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体的控制。这里提出的研究目标是使用动物模型来开发可用于有效治疗药物线索的程序。具体来说，我们将研究暂时恢复或放大由非强化产生的期望-结果错误信号的技术，作为增强药物寻找的消退和条件抑制的手段。该研究的第一个目标是开发一种方法，通过使用药物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。第二个目标是创建类似的程序，加深对药物寻找的条件抑制。第三个目标是加深药物线索的消失，通过药理学恢复先前消失的药物线索的作用，然后将该线索暴露于额外的，广泛的消失。实现这些目标可以(1)提供通过行为和药理学干预加强药物寻求的消除和条件抑制的方法的见解，以及(2)为创建有效的基于消除的药物滥用治疗提供经验基础，这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药物相关刺激对吸毒者的影响的方法。这种刺激已被证明会产生对药物的渴望，并与复发有关。因此，这项研究可能导致开发有效的药物滥用治疗方法，这是一个重大的公共卫生问题。

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.