Sex Differences to Effects of Nicotine on Responses Maintained by Environmental S

描述(由申请人提供)：越来越明显的是，非尼古丁刺激(即气味、味觉)在女性吸烟维持和复发方面比男性发挥更大的作用。这些刺激物可能会因为它们与尼古丁的联系而成为条件性增强剂，而尼古丁对条件性增强剂反应的直接药理作用还知之甚少。此外，雌性大鼠很少被纳入尼古丁对各种环境后果维持的反应的影响的实验室研究中，因此研究性别差异对尼古丁的行为影响将做出有价值的贡献。两个实验将使用观察反应程序来检查急性和长期尼古丁暴露对初级和条件强化维持的反应的影响，以及检查雄性和雌性Long-Evans大鼠一般运动活动的变化。实验1将视觉刺激与食物可获得性配对，为了扩大这种效应的普遍性，实验2将听觉刺激与食物可获得性配对。如果在雌性大鼠中尼古丁对条件增强剂的反应比在雄性大鼠中更大，这将提供关于非尼古丁刺激对吸烟维持和复发的重要性的性别差异的有用信息。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): It is becoming increasingly apparent that non-nicotine stimuli (i.e., smell, taste) play a larger role in smoking maintenance and relapse for women than men. These stimuli may become conditioned reinforcers because of their association with nicotine, and the direct pharmacological effects of nicotine on responding for conditioned reinforcers is poorly understood. Furthermore, female rats are rarely included in laboratory studies of the effects of nicotine on responding maintained by various environmental consequences, therefore studying sex differences to the behavioral effects of nicotine will make a valuable contribution. Two experiments will use the observing response procedure to examine effects of acute and chronic nicotine exposure on responding maintained by primary and conditioned reinforcers, as well as examining changes in general locomotor activity, in male and female Long-Evans rats. Experiment 1 will pair a visual stimulus with food availability, and to extend the generality of this effect Experiment 2 will pair an auditory stimulus with food availability. If nicotine increases responding for conditioned reinforcers to a greater extent in female rats than in male rats, this will provide useful information regarding the gender disparity in the importance of non-nicotine stimuli to smoking maintenance and relapse.