Lasting Effects of Cocaine on Cognition and Motivation

描述(由申请人提供)： 对吸毒者的研究表明，可卡因的使用与认知和动机的改变有关。与吸毒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。动机的改变包括通过奖励和预测奖励的暗示来加强对行为的控制。动物研究已经开始确定可卡因暴露和这种改变之间的因果联系，并提出药物暴露导致的认知和动机改变可能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。这项建议旨在研究可卡因对基于可能结果价值的反应的损害作用与其通过奖赏相关线索对行为控制的增强作用之间的关系。具体地说，给予不同可卡因暴露条件的大鼠将接受评估这两种功能的行为任务的测试。这项实验的结果将决定a)在广泛的可卡因暴露条件下，是否观察到基于结果价值的反应受损和奖励相关线索增强的行为控制，以及b)可卡因对这些功能的影响是否相关。这些发现将被用来指导未来的研究，调查暴露在可卡因暴露中的认知和动机后果之间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.