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Spectral Confocal Imaging of Fluorescently tagged Nicotinic Receptors in Knock-in Mice with Chronic Nicotine Administration
Published on: February 10, 2012
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Nicotine reinforcement in never-smokers.
Angela N Duke1, Matthew W Johnson1, Chad J Reissig1
1Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 5510 Nathan Shock Drive, Baltimore, MD, 21224-6823, USA.
Psychopharmacology
|September 9, 2015
Summary
Nicotine acts as a reinforcer in some individuals who have never smoked, influencing their choices and subjective experiences. This study demonstrates nicotine
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Psychopharmacology
- Addiction Science
Background:
- Tobacco use and addiction cause significant global mortality.
- Nicotine is the primary agent driving tobacco dependence.
- Nicotine reinforcement is inconsistent in nonhumans and unproven in never-smokers.
Purpose of the Study:
- Investigate nicotine's discriminative effects in never-smokers.
- Assess nicotine's subjective effects in never-smokers.
- Determine if nicotine functions as a reinforcer for never-smokers.
Main Methods:
- Eighteen never-smokers (<50 lifetime nicotine exposures) participated.
- Volunteers underwent a double-blind drug discrimination phase with nicotine and placebo.
- Nicotine choice behavior was assessed following discrimination.
Main Results:
- All participants discriminated nicotine from placebo.
- Nine participants chose nicotine (choosers), nine chose placebo (nicotine avoiders).
- Choosers reported positive subjective effects; avoiders reported negative effects.
Conclusions:
- Nicotine can function as a reinforcer in some never-smokers.
- Subjective effects of nicotine differ between choosers and avoiders.
- This provides the first evidence of nicotine reinforcement in never-smokers.
Keywords:
Drug discriminationNever-smokerNicotineOralReinforcementSelf-administrationSubjective effectsMore Related Videos
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