Cannabis vapor self-administration elicits sex- and dose-specific alterations in stress reactivity in rats

The aim of this study was to examine the effects of hangover on mood, multitasking ability, and psychological stress reactivity to cognitive demand. Using a crossover design and semi-naturalistic methodology, 25 participants attended the laboratory in the morning following a night of (i) alcohol abstinence and (ii) alcohol self-administration during a typical night out (with order counterbalanced across participants). They completed a four-module multitasking framework (MTF, a widely used laboratory stressor) and a battery of questionnaires assessing mood, hangover symptom severity, and previous night’s sleep. The effects of the MTF on mood and perceived workload were also assessed. Participants in the hangover condition reported significantly lower alertness and contentment coupled with a higher mental fatigue and anxiety. Multitasking ability was also significantly impaired in the hangover condition. Completion of the cognitive stressor increased reported levels of mental demand, effort, and frustration, and decreased perceived level of performance. MTF completion did not differentially affect mood. Lastly, participants rated their sleep as significantly worse during the night prior to the hangover compared with the control condition. These findings confirm the negative cognitive and mood effects of hangover on mood. They also demonstrate that hangover is associated with greater perceived effort during task performance.

Download Full-text

Preprint: Anticipation of Smoking Sufficiently Dampens Stress Reactivity in Nicotine Deprived Smokers

10.31234/osf.io/vnxkb ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Daniel E. Bradford ◽

John Joseph Curtin ◽

Megan E. Piper

Keyword(s):

Stress Reactivity ◽

Stress Sensitivity ◽

Future Research ◽

Evidence Based ◽

Self Administration ◽

Final Time ◽

Cessation Treatment ◽

Measured Stress ◽

The Impact ◽

Startle Potentiation

Most smokers attempting to quit will relapse, even when using evidence-based cessation treatment. This illustrates the need for better understanding of the relapse process to thereby improve cessation treatments. While the impact of stress sensitivity on relapse is clear, little research has precisely examined stress reactivity in addicted individuals. Further, most research on relapse focuses on affect surrounding self-administration, and doesn’t address potentially important pre-consumption processes such as anticipation of use. We examined the effects of anticipation and actual smoking on stress reactivity in 34 deprived smokers withdrawn for 24 hours and 37 non-deprived smokers, with 37 non-smoker controls. Using a cued shock stressor task, we measured stress reactivity via startle potentiation and self-reported anxiety. After completing the task once, smokers anticipated smoking a cigarette resting in front of them while they completed the task a second time. Smokers then smoked before completing the task a third and final time. Non-smokers anticipated and drank water as a control. Anticipation of smoking significantly attenuated both startle potentiation and self-reported anxiety to shock cues for deprived smokers relative to non-deprived smokers. Smokers’ stress reactivity was not reduced by smoking beyond the prior effect of anticipation. These results suggest that anticipation, rather than actual drug consumption, may drive the primary reinforcing effect of reduced stress reactivity in smoking. Future research is needed to understand this effect of anticipation on drug use and determine whether anticipation would make an effective intervention target for addiction and other psychopathology which exhibits increased stress sensitivity.

Download Full-text

Individual vulnerability to stress is associated with increased demand for intravenous heroin self-administration in rats

10.1101/627471 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Nathaniel P. Stafford ◽

Theodore N. Kazan ◽

Colleen M. Donovan ◽

Erin E. Hart ◽

Robert C. Drugan ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Stress Reactivity ◽

Biological Response ◽

Male Rats ◽

Opioid Use ◽

Self Administration ◽

Heroin Use ◽

Individual Vulnerability ◽

Before And After ◽

Individual Demand ◽

Vulnerability To Stress

AbstractOpioid use is a widespread epidemic, and traumatic stress exposure is a critical risk factor in opioid use and relapse. There is a significant gap in our understanding of how stress contributes to heroin use, and there are limited studies investigating individual differences underlying stress reactivity and subsequent stress-induced heroin self-administration. We hypothesized that greater individual vulnerability to stress would predict higher demand for heroin self-administration in a within-subjects rodent model of stress and heroin use comorbidity. Male rats were exposed to inescapable intermittent swim stress and individual biological (corticosterone) or behavioral (open field, social exploration, and forced swim tests) measures were assessed before and after the stress episode. Individual demand for self-administered heroin (0.05 mg/kg/infusion; 12-hour sessions) was assessed using a behavioral economics approach followed by extinction and reinstatement tests triggered by stress re-exposure, non-contingent cue presentations, and yohimbine (0, 1.0, or 2.5 mg/kg). We found that behavioral, biological, and a combination of behavioral and biological markers sampled prior and after the stress episode that occurred weeks before the access to heroin selfadministration predicted the magnitude of individual demand for heroin. Non-contingent presentation of cues, that were previously associated with heroin, reinstated heroin seeking in extinction. For the first time, we show that individual biological response to an ecologically relevant stressor in combination with associated behavioral markers can be used to predict subsequent economic demand for heroin.

Download Full-text

Increased alcohol self-administration following exposure to the predator odor TMT in high stress-reactive female rats

10.1101/2020.07.17.208561 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Laura C. Ornelas ◽

Ryan E. Tyler ◽

Preethi Irukulapati ◽

Sudheesha Paladugu ◽

Joyce Besheer

Keyword(s):

Individual Differences ◽

Alcohol Drinking ◽

Stress Reactivity ◽

High Stress ◽

Predator Odor ◽

Female Rats ◽

List Type ◽

Self Administration ◽

Male And Female ◽

Long Evans

AbstractPost-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and alcohol use disorder (AUD) are highly comorbid. Additionally, individual differences in response to stress suggest resilient and susceptible populations. The current study exposed male and female Long Evans rats to the synthetically produced predator odor 2,5-dihydro-2,4,5-trimethylthiazoline (TMT) to examine individual differences in stress-reactive behaviors (digging and immobility) and whether these differences could predict lasting consequences of TMT and increases in alcohol drinking. Male and female Long Evans rats were trained on operant alcohol self-administration. After 9 sessions, rats underwent exposure to TMT or water (Control) in a distinct context. 6 days after TMT exposure, rats underwent re-exposure to the TMT-paired context (without TMT), and a series of behavioral assessments (acoustic startle, zero maze, light/dark box), after which rats resumed alcohol self-administration. Rats were divided into two TMT-subgroups using a ratio of digging and immobility behavior during TMT exposure: TMT-subgroup 1 (low digging/immobility ratio) and TMT-subgroup 2 (high digging/immobility ratio). Digging/immobility ratio scores predicted elevated corticosterone levels during TMT exposure and reactivity during context re-exposure in males and females (TMT-subgroup 2), as well as elevated corticosterone levels after context re-exposure and hyperarousal behavior in females (TMT-subgroup 1). Furthermore, TMT stress reactivity predicted increases in alcohol self-administration, specifically in females. These data show that stress-reactivity can predict lasting behavioral changes which may lead to a better understanding of increases in alcohol drinking following stress in females and that individual differences in stress-reactive behaviors using TMT may be helpful to understand resilience/susceptibility to the lasting consequences of stress.HighlightsExposure to the predator odor TMT produces distinct behavioral phenotypes in male and female ratsMale and female high stress reactive rats show enhanced reactivity to the TMT-paired contextStress-reactivity during TMT predicts increases in alcohol self-administration, in femalesStress-reactivity may help to understand resilience/susceptibility and impact on alcohol drinking

Download Full-text

Long-term impact of acute restraint stress on heroin self-administration, reinstatement, and stress reactivity

Psychopharmacology ◽

10.1007/s00213-020-05486-z ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 237 (6) ◽

pp. 1709-1721

Author(s):

Jordan S. Carter ◽

Angela M. Kearns ◽

Kelsey M. Vollmer ◽

Constanza Garcia-Keller ◽

Rachel A. Weber ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Restraint Stress ◽

Stress Reactivity ◽

Self Administration ◽

Acute Restraint Stress ◽

Long Term Impact

Download Full-text

Self-administration of Cyclofem acceptable to some women in Brazil

Reproductive Health Matters ◽

10.1016/s0968-8080(99)90136-2 ◽

1999 ◽

Vol 7 (13) ◽

pp. 158

Keyword(s):

Self Administration

Download Full-text

Collection of Ego-Centered Network Data with Computer-Assisted Interviews

Methodology ◽

10.1027/1614-2241.2.1.7 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 2 (1) ◽

pp. 7-15 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Joachim Gerich ◽

Roland Lehner

Keyword(s):

Survey Methods ◽

A Priori ◽

Dynamic Structure ◽

Computer Assisted ◽

Network Data ◽

Great Effort ◽

Self Administration ◽

Face To Face ◽

Full Network

Although ego-centered network data provide information that is limited in various ways as compared with full network data, an ego-centered design can be used without the need for a priori and researcher-defined network borders. Moreover, ego-centered network data can be obtained with traditional survey methods. However, due to the dynamic structure of the questionnaires involved, a great effort is required on the part of either respondents (with self-administration) or interviewers (with face-to-face interviews). As an alternative, we will show the advantages of using CASI (computer-assisted self-administered interview) methods for the collection of ego-centered network data as applied in a study on the role of social networks in substance use among college students.

Download Full-text