Related Experiment Videos
Anxiety conditioned to nicotine in the elevated plus-maze is time dependent
1Psychopharmacology Research Unit, Centre for Neuroscience, GKT School of Biomedical Sciences, King's College London, Hodgkin Building, Guy's Campus, London SE1 1UL, UK. sonia.tucci@kcl.ac.uk
Behavioural Pharmacology
|December 13, 2002
Summary
Nicotine exposure can create conditioned anxiety responses in rats, even without the drug present. This conditioned anxiety is linked to the testing environment, not the specific anxiety state induced by nicotine.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Behavioral Pharmacology
- Psychopharmacology
Background:
- Nicotine's anxiogenic effects can be conditioned.
- Previous studies showed no generalization between social interaction and elevated plus-maze tests.
- Distinct anxiety states in different tests suggest conditioning may be to environment or anxiety type.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if conditioning to apparatus cues in the elevated plus-maze is sufficient to cause a conditioned anxiogenic effect.
- To determine the role of timing in nicotine-associated cue conditioning.
Main Methods:
- Rats received nicotine (0.45 mg/kg) 5 minutes before testing in the elevated plus-maze on day 1.
- On day 2, rats were tested drug-free to assess conditioned responses.
- Control groups were used for comparison.
- A separate experiment tested rats 30 minutes after nicotine administration.
Main Results:
- Rats tested drug-free on day 2 showed a conditioned anxiogenic response.
- This was evidenced by significantly reduced open-arm entries and time spent in open arms compared to controls.
- Conditioning failed to occur when rats were exposed to the maze 30 minutes after nicotine administration.
Conclusions:
- Conditioning to apparatus cues alone is sufficient to produce a conditioned anxiogenic effect.
- The timing of nicotine-associated cues is critical for establishing this conditioned response.
- Findings highlight the role of environmental cues in nicotine-induced anxiety.