Effects of Nicotine and Ethanol on Indices of Reward and Sensory-Motor Function in Rats: Implications for the Positive Epidemiologic Relationship Between the Use of Cigarettes and the Use of Alcohol
Abstract
The present experiments examined effects of nicotine and ethanol on behavioral and biochemical indices of reward and sensory-motor function in rats. In Experiment 1, the conditioned place preference paradigm was used to assess nicotine reward following acute treatment with ethanol or saline. Contrary to predictions, there was no evidence of place conditioning by nicotine and no effects of ethanol to alter nicotine place preference. There was, however, an effect of nicotine to offset the locomotor depressant effects of ethanol as indexed by the number of crosses between two shuttle-box chambers. In addition, there was a significant effect of nicotine and ethanol to reduce the ratio of dopamine/DOPAC in nucleus accumbens. Because dopaminergic activity in nucleus accumbens is known to mediate nicotine reinforcement, reductions in the ratio of dopamine/DOPAC (perhaps indicating an increase in the rate of dopamine turnover) suggest a biologic mechanism that may motivate some smokers to smoke more when they drink.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 07, 1997
- Accession Number
- AD1011744
Entities
People
- E. J. Popke
Organizations
- Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences