Social Influences on Drug-Seeking Behavior

描述（由申请人提供）：流行病学研究一致报告说，青少年或年轻人是否会使用毒品的最可靠的预测因素之一是他或她的朋友是否使用毒品。同伴群体成员之间物质使用一致率高的原因尚不完全清楚，但两种类型的理论受到了最多的关注。选择理论认为，个人自我选择进入社会群体， 社会化（或社会学习）理论认为，社会群体的成员模仿物质使用行为，其他群体成员模仿这些行为。研究社会影响对人类自我给药的作用的实验研究是有限的，因为道德约束限制了物质使用的建模程度。在动物中的实验研究是有限的，因为受试者通常被从他们的家庭环境中移除，并在测试期间与他们的笼舍分离。这代表了动物模型的显著局限性，因为人类的药物使用通常发生在其他人存在的情况下，并且这些其他人的行为（即，他们是否也在使用毒品）可能会影响个人的毒品消费。拟定项目描述了使用定制的操作员调节室，允许在同一时间和同一室中检查多只动物的静脉药物自我给药。在一系列实验中，我们将测试动物是否会选择具有相似自我管理历史的其他大鼠（如选择理论所预测的），以及大鼠是否会模仿同伴的自我管理行为（如社会化理论所预测的）。因为社会化理论进一步预测，针对社会环境的干预措施将影响药物自我管理，我们将研究有一个伴侣也自我管理可卡因的影响（即，同伴使用者）与具有不自我施用可卡因的同伴的影响（即，对等非用户）。我们的中心假设是，可卡因自我管理将增加与同伴与获得可卡因配对的大鼠和减少与同伴没有获得可卡因配对的大鼠。此外，鉴于NIDA高度重视临床前和临床研究中的性别差异调查，所有研究都将采用男性和女性受试者。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Epidemiological studies consistently report that one of the most reliable predictors of whether an adolescent or young adult will use drugs is whether or not his or her friends use drugs. The reasons for the high concordance rate of substance use among members of peer groups are not fully known, but two types of theories have received the most attention. Selection theories suggest that individuals self-select into social groups that are similar to themselves, whereas socialization (or social-learning) theories propose that members of a social group model substance use behaviors and other group members imitate those behaviors. Experimental studies examining the role of social influence on drug self-administration in humans are limited because ethical constraints limit the degree to which substance use can be modeled. Experimental studies in animals are limited because subjects are typically removed from their home environment and separated from their cagemates during testing. This represents a significant limitation of animal models, because drug use in humans typically occurs in the presence of others, and the behavior of these other people (i.e., whether or not they are also using drugs) may influence the drug consumption of the individual. The proposed project describes the use of custom-built operant-conditioning chambers that permit intravenous drug self- administration to be examined in multiple animals at the same time and in the same chamber. In a series of experiments, we will test whether animals choose other rats that share a similar self- administration history (as selection theories predict) and whether rats imitate the self-administration behavior of a peer (as socialization theories predict). Because socialization theories further predict that interventions targeting the social environment will influence drug self-administration, we will examine the impact of having a companion that also self-administers cocaine (i.e., a peer user) versus the impact of having a companion that does not self-administer cocaine (i.e., a peer nonuser). Our central hypothesis is that cocaine self-administration will be increased in rats paired with a companion with access to cocaine and decreased in rats paired with a companion without access to cocaine. Also, given the high scientific priority that NIDA places on investigating sex differences in preclinical and clinical research, all studies will employ both male and female subjects.