Behavioral Momentum of Alcohol Self-Administration

描述(申请人提供)：药物和酒精寻求的持续性是药物滥用和依赖治疗中的一个关键问题。毒品线索在当前的成瘾理论中占有重要地位，并被认为在持续寻求毒品和复发方面发挥了作用。由于吸毒是可操作性行为，基于可操作性条件反射的药物自我给药动物模型在研究生物和环境变量如何影响药物寻求和复发方面很有用。在研究面对干扰时操作者行为的持续性方面的方法学和理论发展可能会为药物维持反应的持续性提供进一步的洞察力。行为动量理论提供了一套方法和一套量化理论来解释强化条件如何影响存在刺激的行为的持续性。基于行为动量理论的预测，我们发现，在刺激存在的情况下，酒精寻求的持久性取决于刺激中可用的所有增强剂(包括药物和非药物)，即使这些增强剂中的一些干扰了药物寻找。因此，可能有必要考虑与药物线索相关的所有强化来源(即药物和非药物)，以了解该线索对药物寻求持续性的影响。进一步扩展行为动量理论的方法和量化理论框架，可以为研究有毒品线索的毒品寻找的持续性提供重要的启示。此外，由于毒品线索似乎在复发中发挥作用，将行为动量理论扩展到复发的动物模型可能会提供关于在存在毒品线索的情况下强化背景如何有助于复发的见解。这项拟议的研究旨在：1)进一步检查替代非药物增强剂对酒精自我给药持久性的影响；2)检查将行为动量提供的抵抗变化的定量解释扩展到酒精自我给药的效用；以及3)将行为动量扩展到复发的动物模型。继续审查这些问题很重要，因为持续寻求毒品是吸毒和酗酒的特征之一。更好地了解毒品线索如何影响寻求毒品的持续性，可能会提出新的行为干预措施，以减少接触此类线索的影响。这个项目对公众健康很重要，因为它将有助于了解导致药物和酒精滥用如此持久的因素。该项目的发现可能会提出新的行为治疗方法，旨在减少药物和酒精滥用的持久性，防止复发。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The persistence of drug and alcohol seeking is a critical issue in the treatment of substance abuse and dependence. Drug cues figure prominently in current theories of addiction and are thought to play a role in the persistence of drug seeking and relapse. Because drug taking is operant behavior, animal models of drug self-administration based on operant conditioning have been useful in examining how biological and environmental variables contribute to drug seeking and relapse. Methodological and theoretical developments in the study of the persistence of operant behavior in the face of disruption may provide further insights into to the persistence of drug-maintained responding. Behavioral momentum theory provides a set of methods and a quantitative theory of how reinforcement conditions affect the persistence of behavior in the presence of a stimulus. Based on a prediction of behavioral momentum theory, we have found that the persistence of alcohol seeking in the presence of a stimulus depends on all the reinforcers (both drug and non-drug) available in that stimulus, even if some of those reinforcers interfere with drug-seeking. Thus, it may be necessary to consider all of the sources of reinforcement (i.e., drug and non-drug) associated with a drug cue to understand the impact of that cue on the persistence of drug seeking. Further extensions of the methods and quantitative theoretical framework of behavioral momentum theory may provide important insights into the persistence of drug seeking in the presence of drug cues. In addition, because drug cues appear to play a role in relapse, extensions of behavioral momentum theory to an animal model of relapse may provide insights into how the context of reinforcement contributes to relapse in the presence of drug cues. The proposed research aims to: 1) Further examine the effects of alternative non-drug reinforcers on the persistence of alcohol self-administration; 2) Examine the utility of extending the quantitative account of resistance to change provided by behavioral momentum to alcohol self-administration; and 3) Extend behavioral momentum to an animal model of relapse. Continued examination of these issues is important because the persistence of drug seeking is one of the defining features of drug and alcohol abuse. A better understanding of how drug cues impact the persistence of drug seeking may suggest novel behavioral interventions targeted at reducing the impact of exposure to such cues. This project is important to public health because it will help provide an understanding of the factors that make drug and alcohol abuse so persistent. Findings from this project may suggest novel behavioral treatments targeted at reducing the persistence of drug and alcohol abuse and preventing relapse.