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The activity-regulated cytoskeleton-associated protein, Arc/Arg3.1, influences mouse cocaine self-administration
Publication date: Available online 1 November 2019Source: Pharmacology Biochemistry and BehaviorAuthor(s): Rachel D. Penrod, Morgane Thomsen, Makoto Taniguchi, Yuhong Guo, Christopher W. Cowan, Laura N. SmithAbstractThe activity-regulated cytoskeleton-associated protein (Arc, also known as Arg3.1), an immediate early gene and synaptic regulator, is upregulated following a single cocaine exposure. However, there is not much known regarding Arc/Arg3.1's potential contribution to addiction-relevant behaviors. Despite known learning and memory deficits in contextual fear and water-maze reversal learning tasks, we find that mic...
Source: Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior - November 1, 2019 Category: Biochemistry Source Type: research

A single coadministration of subeffective doses of ascorbic acid and ketamine reverses the depressive-like behavior induced by chronic unpredictable stress in mice
In this study, we investigated the ability of a single coadministration of subeffective doses of ascorbic acid and ketamine to reverse the depressive-like behavior induced by chronic unpredictable stress (CUS) in mice. Moreover, we examined the effect of combined administration of ascorbic acid and ketamine on hippocampal phosphorylation of p70S6K and immunocontents of GLUA1 and PSD-95 in mice submitted to the CUS procedure. CUS procedure was applied for 21 days. Animals received a single coadministration of subeffective doses of ascorbic acid (0.1 mg/kg) and ketamine (0.1 mg/kg) and were subjected to behavioral eval...
Source: Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior - November 1, 2019 Category: Biochemistry Source Type: research

d-Cycloserine reverses scopolamine-induced object and place memory deficits in a spontaneous recognition paradigm in rats
Publication date: December 2019Source: Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior, Volume 187Author(s): Takaaki Ozawa, Kazuo Yamada, Yukio IchitaniAbstractd-Cycloserine (DCS) is a partial agonist of the glutamatergic N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor-associated glycine site, and it prevents the amnesic effects of the muscarinic receptor antagonist scopolamine in various memory tests in rodents. In the present study, we tested the hypothesis that DCS has anti-amnesic effects in scopolamine-induced deficits using spontaneous object recognition and place recognition tests. In both tests, scopolamine (0.5 mg/kg, i.p.) was sys...
Source: Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior - November 1, 2019 Category: Biochemistry Source Type: research

Rewarding and aversive doses of caffeine alter activity but not conditioned place preference induced by ethanol in DBA/2J mice
Publication date: Available online 31 October 2019Source: Pharmacology Biochemistry and BehaviorAuthor(s): Alfredo Zuniga, Christopher L. CunninghamAbstractIncreases in the consumption of ethanol and caffeine have been attributed to increased subjective feelings of intoxication and pleasure from the combination. Previous studies have shown that caffeine can be rewarding at low doses and aversive at high doses, although these findings are at times inconsistent between studies using comparable doses. Similarly, studies investigating the rewarding effects of ethanol and caffeine combinations have yielded mixed results. To add...
Source: Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior - November 1, 2019 Category: Biochemistry Source Type: research

Conditioned taste avoidance induced by the combination of heroin and cocaine: Implications for the use of speedball
Publication date: Available online 31 October 2019Source: Pharmacology Biochemistry and BehaviorAuthor(s): Anthony L. Riley, Karen A. Pescatore, Katharine H. Nelson, Madeline E. CrissmanAbstractSpeedball (heroin + cocaine) is a prevalent drug combination among intravenous drug users. Although its use is generally discussed to be a function of changes in the rewarding effects of either or both drugs, changes in the aversive effects of either drug may also be impacted (weakened) by the combination. To address this latter possibility and its potential role in the use of speedball, the present studies examined the interact...
Source: Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior - November 1, 2019 Category: Biochemistry Source Type: research

Differential expression of nicotine withdrawal as a function of developmental age in the rat
Publication date: Available online 24 October 2019Source: Pharmacology Biochemistry and BehaviorAuthor(s): Robin J. Keeley, Tom E. Mayer, Li-Ming Hsu, Hanbing Lu, Yihong Yang, Elliot A. SteinAbstractCigarette smoking and resultant nicotine dependence remain major public health problems. Most smokers begin before the age of 18, yet preclinical models have insufficiently characterized the development of nicotine dependence in adolescence. To categorize the short-term effects of chronic nicotine administration throughout adolescence and adulthood, we exposed male Sprague Dawley rats to 14 days of continuously delivered nico...
Source: Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior - October 25, 2019 Category: Biochemistry Source Type: research

Energy drink constituents (caffeine and taurine) selectively potentiate ethanol-induced locomotion in mice
Publication date: December 2019Source: Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior, Volume 187Author(s): Lisa Ulenius, Louise Adermark, Bo Söderpalm, Mia EricsonAbstractMixing alcohol with energy drinks has emerged as a popular trend over the last decade. However, epidemiological studies have found this consumption to be associated with increased hazards, such as binge drinking, increased alcohol-related harm and risk of developing alcohol use disorder. The mechanisms underlying these effects are not clear, but much attention has been attributed to caffeine. However, taurine, another common ingredient in energy drinks, has als...
Source: Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior - October 25, 2019 Category: Biochemistry Source Type: research

Intraperitoneal 8-OH-DPAT reduces competition from contextual but not discrete conditioning cues
Publication date: December 2019Source: Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior, Volume 187Author(s): H.J. Cassaday, K.E. ThurAbstractThe effects of the serotonergic (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT) agonist 8-hydroxy-2-(di-n-propylamino)tetralin (8-OH-DPAT; 0.2 and 0.4 mg/kg i.p.) were examined in trace conditioning (Experiment 1) and overshadowing (Experiment 2) procedures. Both experiments used a fear conditioning procedure conducted off-the-baseline in water deprived male Wistar rats. 8-OH-DPAT was administered during conditioning and its effects were examined drug free as the suppression of an established licking response, ...
Source: Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior - October 25, 2019 Category: Biochemistry Source Type: research

Dissimilar interaction between dopaminergic and cholinergic systems in the initiation of emission of 50-kHz and 22-kHz vocalizations
Publication date: Available online 23 October 2019Source: Pharmacology Biochemistry and BehaviorAuthor(s): Michael Silkstone, Stefan M. BrudzynskiAbstractRats emit 22-kHz or 50-kHz ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) to signal their emotional state to other conspecifics. The 22-kHz USVs signal a negative emotional state while 50-kHz USVs reflect a positive affective state. The initiation of 22-kHz USVs is dependent on the activity of cholinergic neurons within the laterodorsal tegmental nucleus that release acetylcholine along the medial cholinoceptive vocalization strip. Emission of 50-kHz USVs is dependent upon the activatio...
Source: Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior - October 25, 2019 Category: Biochemistry Source Type: research

The combination of mirtazapine plus venlafaxine reduces immobility in the forced swim test and does not inhibit female sexual behavior
ConclusionsMirtazapine and venlafaxine exerted an effect in the FST, which was also evident when sub-effective doses of both antidepressants were combined. This combination also lacked adverse effects on female sexual behavior. The results suggest that “California Rocket Fuel” could be an effective antidepressant therapy with no adverse sexual effects in women. (Source: Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior)
Source: Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior - October 25, 2019 Category: Biochemistry Source Type: research

TAK-925, an orexin 2 receptor-selective agonist, shows robust wake-promoting effects in mice
In this study, we characterized in vitro and in vivo profiles of a novel highly selective OX2R agonist, TAK-925 [methyl (2R,3S)-3-[(methylsulfonyl)amino]-2-{[(cis-4-phenylcyclohexyl)oxy]methyl}piperidine-1-carboxylate]. TAK-925 activated human recombinant OX2R with 50% effective concentration value of 5.5 nM, and showed>5000-fold selectivity over OX1R in calcium mobilization assays. TAK-925 induced OX2R-downstream signals similar to those displayed by orexin peptides in Chinese hamster ovary cells stably expressing human OX2R. In an electrophysiological study, TAK-925 activated physiological OX2R on histaminergic neurons...
Source: Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior - October 23, 2019 Category: Biochemistry Source Type: research

Ethanol pre-exposure does not increase delay discounting in P rats, but does impair the ability to dynamically adapt behavioral allocation to changing reinforcer contingencies
Publication date: Available online 22 October 2019Source: Pharmacology Biochemistry and BehaviorAuthor(s): Steven Wesley Beckwith, Cristine Lynn CzachowskiAbstractIncreased subjective discounting of delayed rewards is associated with substance abuse, and individuals tend to discount their drug of choice at a greater rate compared to monetary rewards. While there is evidence indicating that increased delay discounting (DD) is a risk factor for substance abuse, some results suggest that exposure to drugs of abuse also increases DD, but effects are mixed. The current study examined whether ethanol pre-exposure increases DD an...
Source: Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior - October 23, 2019 Category: Biochemistry Source Type: research

Vaporized Cannabis differentially modulates sexual behavior of female rats according to the dose
Publication date: Available online 20 October 2019Source: Pharmacology Biochemistry and BehaviorAuthor(s): Alejandra Mondino, Santiago Fernandez, Carlos Garcia-Carnelli, María José Castro, Eleuterio Umpierrez, Pablo Torterolo, Atilio Falconi, Daniella AgratiAbstractStudies exploring the effect of compounds that modulate the endocannabinoid system on sexual behavior have yielded contradictory results. However, the effect of smoked Cannabis in women has been consistently associated with an increase in sexual drive. Therefore, it can be speculated that vaporized cannabis will augment sexually motivated components of the sex...
Source: Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior - October 22, 2019 Category: Biochemistry Source Type: research

Age- and sex-related changes in the severity of physical and psychological dependence in morphine-dependent rats
Publication date: Available online 19 October 2019Source: Pharmacology Biochemistry and BehaviorAuthor(s): Javad Mohammadian, Hossein Miladi-GorjiAbstractGender- and age-dependent effects on the severity of morphine dependence are still controversial. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of age and sex on the severity of physical and psychological dependence in morphine-dependent rats. The young/aged male and female Wistar rats were chronically treated with bi-daily doses (10 mg/kg, at 12 h intervals) of morphine for 14 days. Then, rats were tested for the severity of physical dependence on morphine (...
Source: Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior - October 20, 2019 Category: Biochemistry Source Type: research

Editorial Board
Publication date: November 2019Source: Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior, Volume 186Author(s): (Source: Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior)
Source: Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior - October 16, 2019 Category: Biochemistry Source Type: research