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Preference Paradigm (preference + paradigm)
Selected AbstractsRats selectively bred for low levels of 50 kHz ultrasonic vocalizations exhibit alterations in early social motivationDEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOBIOLOGY, Issue 4 2008K.M. Harmon Abstract In rats, the rates of 50 kHz ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) can be used as a selective breeding phenotype and variations in this phenotype can be an indicator of affective states. The 50 kHz USV is elicited by rewarding stimuli (e.g., food, sexual behavior) and therefore can express a positive affective state. Conversely, the 22 kHz USV is elicited by aversive stimuli (e.g., presence of a predator, social defeat) indicating a negative affective state. In the present study, we tested the effect of selectively breeding for 50 kHz USVs on a variety of maternal social/emotional behaviors in young rat pups (PND 10-12). These measures consisted of an assessment of isolation calls and conditioned odor preference paradigm. Results indicate that animals selected for low levels of 50 kHz USVs show the greatest alterations in social behaviors compared to the control animals. The low line animals had an increase in isolation calls tested during place preference conditioning and a decrease in 50 kHz ultrasonic calls in all conditions. These same low line animals failed to show a typical preference for a maternally-associated odor during the place preference test. The different social behaviors of the high line animals did not consistently vary from those of the control group. These results have important implications for the study of genetic and epigenetic mechanisms underlying emotional states, and possibly contribute to the research underlying the emotional changes in developmental disorders such as autistic spectrum disorder by providing a novel animal model that displays communication deficits that are interdependent with significant social behavioral impairments. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Dev Psychobiol 50: 322,331, 2008. [source] Metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 localized in the limbic forebrain is critical for the development of morphine-induced rewarding effect in miceEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE, Issue 6 2004Takeshi Aoki Abstract The aim of the present study was to clarify the role of the metabotropic glutamate 5 (mGlu5) receptor subtype in the development of rewarding effect induced by a prototypical µ-opioid receptor agonist morphine in the mouse. In the conditioned place preference paradigm, intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) administration of a selective mGlu5 receptor antagonist, 2-methyl-6-(phenylethynyl)-pyridine (MPEP), attenuated the morphine-induced rewarding effects. Using immunoblot analysis, we confirmed that the increased level of protein kinase C, (PKC,) isoform was observed in the limbic forebrain of ICR mice conditioned with morphine. Here we found for the first time that the treatment with MPEP significantly inhibited the up-regulation of PKC, isoform in the limbic forebrain of mice showing the significant place preference. Furthermore, it should be mentioned that the protein level of mGlu5 was significantly increased in membrane preparations of the limbic forebrain obtained from morphine-conditioned mice compared to those from saline-conditioned mice. As well as the result from the immunoblot analysis, we demonstrated using the receptor binding assay that the number of mGlu5 receptors in the mouse limbic forebrain was significantly increased by morphine conditioning. The present data provide direct evidence that the activation of mGlu5 receptor linked to the increased PKC, isoform in the mouse limbic forebrain is implicated in the development of rewarding effect of morphine. [source] Dissociation of food and opiate preference by a genetic mutation in zebrafishGENES, BRAIN AND BEHAVIOR, Issue 7 2006B. Lau Both natural rewards and addictive substances have the ability to reinforce behaviors. It has been unclear whether identical neural pathways mediate the actions of both. In addition, little is known about these behaviors and the underlying neural mechanisms in a genetically tractable vertebrate, the zebrafish Danio rerio. Using a conditioned place preference paradigm, we demonstrate that wildtype zebrafish exhibit a robust preference for food as well as the opiate drug morphine that can be blocked by the opioid receptor antagonist naloxone. Moreover, we show that the too few mutant, which disrupts a conserved zinc finger-containing gene and exhibits a reduction of selective groups of dopaminergic and serotonergic neurons in the basal diencephalon, displays normal food preference but shows no preference for morphine. Pretreatment with dopamine receptor antagonists abolishes morphine preference in the wildtype. These studies demonstrate that zebrafish display measurable preference behavior for reward and show that the preference for natural reward and addictive drug is dissociable by a single-gene mutation that alters subregions of brain monoamine neurotransmitter systems. Future genetic analysis in zebrafish shall uncover further molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying the formation and function of neural circuitry that regulate opiate and food preference behavior. [source] The Interaction of Gestational and Postnatal Ethanol Experience on the Adolescent and Adult Odor-Mediated Responses to Ethanol in Observer and Demonstrator RatsALCOHOLISM, Issue 10 2010Amber M. Eade Background:, Gestational ethanol exposure enhances the adolescent reflexive sniffing response to ethanol odor. Postnatal exposures of naïve animals as either an observer (i.e., conspecific) or demonstrator (i.e., intoxicated peer) using a social transmission of food odor preference paradigm also yields enhanced odor-mediated responses. Studies on the interaction of fetal and postnatal exposures using the social transmission paradigm have been limited to the responses of observers. When combined, the enhanced response is greater than either form of exposure alone and, in observer females, yields adult persistence. The absence of a male effect is noteworthy, given that chemosensory mechanisms are suggested to be an important antecedent factor in the progression of ethanol preference. Observers gain odor information on the breath of the demonstrator through social interaction. Demonstrators experience the pharmacologic properties of ethanol along with retronasal and hematogenic olfaction. Thus, we tested whether augmentation of the fetal ethanol-induced behavioral response with postnatal exposure as a demonstrator differed from that as an observer. We also examined whether re-exposure as a demonstrator yields persistence in both sexes. Methods:, Pregnant dams were fed an ethanol containing or control liquid diet throughout gestation. Progeny received four ethanol or water exposures: one every 48 hours through either intragastric infusion or social interaction with the infused peer beginning on P29. The reflexive behavioral sniffing response to ethanol odor was tested at postnatal (P) day 37 or P90, using whole-body plethysmography. Results:, When tested in either adolescence or adulthood - fetal ethanol exposed adolescent ethanol observers and demonstrators significantly differed in their odor-mediated response to ethanol odor both between themselves and from their respective water controls. Nonetheless, adolescent ethanol re-exposure as a demonstrator, like an observer, enhanced the reflexive sniffing response to ethanol odor at both testing ages by augmenting the known effects of prior fetal ethanol experience. At each age, the magnitude of the enhanced odor response in demonstrators was similar to that of observers. Interestingly, only re-exposure as a demonstrator resulted in persistence of the behavioral response into adulthood in both sexes. Conclusions:, The method of ethanol re-exposure plays an important role in prolonging the odor-mediated effects of fetal exposure. While ethanol odor-specific exposure through social interaction is important, additional factors such as the pairing of retronasal and hematogenic olfaction with ethanol's intoxicating properties appear necessary to achieve persistence in both sexes. [source] | ||||||||||