Area Postrema and Alcohol: Effects of Area Postrema Lesions on Ethanol Self-Administration, Pharmacokinetics, and Ethanol-induced Conditioned Taste Aversion

1988 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 698-704 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. B. Stewart ◽  
E. Perlanski ◽  
L. A. Grupp
Keyword(s):  
Taste Aversion ◽  
Conditioned Taste Aversion ◽  
Area Postrema ◽  
Self Administration ◽  
Alcohol Effects

scholarly journals Conditioned taste aversion and motion sickness in cats and squirrel monkeys

1990 ◽  
Vol 68 (2) ◽  
pp. 269-278 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert A. Fox ◽  
Merylee Corcoran ◽  
Kenneth R. Brizzee
Keyword(s):  
Taste Aversion ◽  
Motion Sickness ◽  
Lithium Chloride ◽  
Conditioned Taste Aversion ◽  
Area Postrema ◽  
Conditioned Aversion ◽  
Squirrel Monkeys ◽  
The Relationship

The relationship between vomiting and conditioned taste aversion was studied in intact cats and squirrel monkeys and in cats and squirrel monkeys in which the area postrema was ablated by thermal cautery. In cats conditioned 7 – 12 months after ablation of the area postrema, three successive treatments with xylazine failed to produce either vomiting or conditioned taste aversion to a novel fluid. Intact cats, however, vomited and formed a conditioned aversion. In squirrel monkeys conditioned 6 months after ablation of the area postrema, three treatments with lithium chloride failed to produce conditioned taste aversion. Intact monkeys did condition with these treatments. Neither intact nor ablated monkeys vomited or evidenced other signs of illness when injected with lithium chloride. When the same ablated cats and monkeys were exposed to a form of motion that produced vomiting prior to surgery, conditioned taste aversion was produced and some animals vomited. These findings confirm other studies indicating motion can produce vomiting in animals with the area postrema destroyed and demonstrate that motion-induced conditioned taste aversion can be produced after ablation of the area postrema. The utility of conditioned taste aversion as a measure of subemetic motion sickness is discussed by examining agreement and disagreement between identifications of motion sickness by conditioned taste aversion and vomiting. It is suggested that a convincing demonstration of the utility of conditioned taste aversion as a measure of nausea requires the identification of physiological correlates of nausea, and caution should be exercised when attempting to interpret conditioned taste aversion as a measure of nausea.Key words: area postrema, conditioned taste aversion, motion sickness, nausea, emesis.

scholarly journals The Role of the Serotonin Transporter as a Genetic Risk Factor in the Development of Drug Addiction

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Bridget Williams Brox
Keyword(s):  
Taste Aversion ◽  
Drug Addiction ◽  
Serotonin Transporter ◽  
Conditioned Taste Aversion ◽  
Self Administration ◽  
Bdnf Expression ◽  
Drug Induced ◽  
Psychological Burden ◽  
Genotype Effect ◽  
The Individual

<p>Drug addiction is a ubiquitous phenomenon worldwide that places tremendous financial and psychological burden on societies, families and the individual. Interestingly, only a small percentage of individuals ( 20%), regardless their drug of choice, go on to develop the compulsive behaviours that define drug addiction. Clinical studies have shown that there is a subset of the population with a genetically determined reduction in the serotonin transporter that may increase vulnerability to developing a variety of psychiatric disorders like depression, anxiety and drug addiction.  To investigate the influence of reduced serotonin transporter function in the laboratory we studied the effects of MDMA (‘ecstasy’) and heroin in a genetically altered animal model: the serotonin transporter (SERT) knockout rat. Homozygous (HOM) animals lack SERT function completely while heterozygous (HET) have about 50% SERT function compared to the wild type (WT). Groups of HOM, HET and WT animals completed MDMA or heroin self-administration experiments. A robust genotype effect emerged for animals self-administering MDMA; facilitation of MDMA self-administration was inversely related to SERT function. HOM animals, without exception, reached acquisition criterion significantly faster than the HET animals; HET animals then showed higher acquisition rates compared to the WT animals. In contrast, there were no differences between the genotypes when animals self-administered heroin. To investigate the driving force behind facilitated MDMA self-administration in animals with reduced SERT function locomotor activity and conditioned taste aversion experiments were undertaken. In contrast to the drug self-administration experiments,MDMA induced hyperactivity was positively related to SERT function. Thus, it was significantly reduced in HOM and HET animals compared to the WT. Again, heroin treatment did not produce differences in locomotion between the genotypes. MDMA induced conditioned taste aversion revealed only a main effect of dose with robust conditioned taste aversion for both drug doses, although a trend indicated that HOM animals may have heightened sensitivity to MDMA. However, heroin treatment failed to produce a conditioned taste aversion effect in any of the groups regardless of dose. Beyond the aforementioned behavioural experiments striatal brain tissue from the animals that had previously self-administered MDMA or heroin was analysed via quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction; five targets were evaluated to quantify drug induced changes in brain derived neurotrophic factor gene expression (BDNF). Several BDNF isoforms (total BDNF, BDNF III and BDNF IV) were significantly increased in animals that had self-administered MDMA; this effect was true across HOM, HET and WT subjects. Comparatively, animals that had self-administered heroin did not show a difference in BDNF expression compared to untreated control animals.  This suite of experiments provides insight into the influence of a compromised serotonergic system on the development of drug addiction. That is, while reduced SERT function does not appear to augment the addictive properties of drugs like heroin there is reason to suspect that it does confer additional susceptibility to developing addiction to drugs like MDMA, highlighting the hypothesis that different classes of addictive substances act through different neurobiological pathways.</p>

scholarly journals Area postrema lesions attenuate LiCl-induced c-Fos expression correlated with conditioned taste aversion learning

2012 ◽  
Vol 105 (2) ◽  
pp. 151-160 ◽  
Author(s):  
Corinne M. Spencer ◽  
Lisa A. Eckel ◽  
Rahel Nardos ◽  
Thomas A. Houpt
Keyword(s):  
Taste Aversion ◽  
Conditioned Taste Aversion ◽  
Area Postrema ◽  
Aversion Learning ◽  
Taste Aversion Learning ◽  
Fos Expression

Conditioned taste aversion predicts morphine, but not cocaine, self-administration: A role of drug aversion in drug-taking

2014 ◽  
Vol 140 ◽  
pp. e234
Author(s):  
Andrey Verendeev ◽  
B.J. Tunstall ◽  
D.N. Kearns ◽  
A.L. Riley
Keyword(s):  
Taste Aversion ◽  
Conditioned Taste Aversion ◽  
Self Administration

scholarly journals Lesions of the Lateral Habenula Increase Voluntary Ethanol Consumption and Operant Self-Administration, Block Yohimbine-Induced Reinstatement of Ethanol Seeking, and Attenuate Ethanol-Induced Conditioned Taste Aversion

PLoS ONE ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. e92701 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew K. Haack ◽  
Chandni Sheth ◽  
Andrea L. Schwager ◽  
Michael S. Sinclair ◽  
Shashank Tandon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Taste Aversion ◽  
Conditioned Taste Aversion ◽  
Ethanol Consumption ◽  
Self Administration ◽  
Lateral Habenula ◽  
Voluntary Ethanol Consumption

Recall of a previously acquired conditioned taste aversion in rats following lesions of the area postrema

1984 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 503-506 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernard M. Rabin ◽  
Walter A. Hunt ◽  
Jack Lee
Keyword(s):  
Taste Aversion ◽  
Conditioned Taste Aversion ◽  
Area Postrema

scholarly journals The Role of the Serotonin Transporter as a Genetic Risk Factor in the Development of Drug Addiction

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Bridget Williams Brox
Keyword(s):  
Taste Aversion ◽  
Drug Addiction ◽  
Serotonin Transporter ◽  
Conditioned Taste Aversion ◽  
Self Administration ◽  
Bdnf Expression ◽  
Drug Induced ◽  
Psychological Burden ◽  
Genotype Effect ◽  
The Individual

<p>Drug addiction is a ubiquitous phenomenon worldwide that places tremendous financial and psychological burden on societies, families and the individual. Interestingly, only a small percentage of individuals ( 20%), regardless their drug of choice, go on to develop the compulsive behaviours that define drug addiction. Clinical studies have shown that there is a subset of the population with a genetically determined reduction in the serotonin transporter that may increase vulnerability to developing a variety of psychiatric disorders like depression, anxiety and drug addiction.  To investigate the influence of reduced serotonin transporter function in the laboratory we studied the effects of MDMA (‘ecstasy’) and heroin in a genetically altered animal model: the serotonin transporter (SERT) knockout rat. Homozygous (HOM) animals lack SERT function completely while heterozygous (HET) have about 50% SERT function compared to the wild type (WT). Groups of HOM, HET and WT animals completed MDMA or heroin self-administration experiments. A robust genotype effect emerged for animals self-administering MDMA; facilitation of MDMA self-administration was inversely related to SERT function. HOM animals, without exception, reached acquisition criterion significantly faster than the HET animals; HET animals then showed higher acquisition rates compared to the WT animals. In contrast, there were no differences between the genotypes when animals self-administered heroin. To investigate the driving force behind facilitated MDMA self-administration in animals with reduced SERT function locomotor activity and conditioned taste aversion experiments were undertaken. In contrast to the drug self-administration experiments,MDMA induced hyperactivity was positively related to SERT function. Thus, it was significantly reduced in HOM and HET animals compared to the WT. Again, heroin treatment did not produce differences in locomotion between the genotypes. MDMA induced conditioned taste aversion revealed only a main effect of dose with robust conditioned taste aversion for both drug doses, although a trend indicated that HOM animals may have heightened sensitivity to MDMA. However, heroin treatment failed to produce a conditioned taste aversion effect in any of the groups regardless of dose. Beyond the aforementioned behavioural experiments striatal brain tissue from the animals that had previously self-administered MDMA or heroin was analysed via quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction; five targets were evaluated to quantify drug induced changes in brain derived neurotrophic factor gene expression (BDNF). Several BDNF isoforms (total BDNF, BDNF III and BDNF IV) were significantly increased in animals that had self-administered MDMA; this effect was true across HOM, HET and WT subjects. Comparatively, animals that had self-administered heroin did not show a difference in BDNF expression compared to untreated control animals.  This suite of experiments provides insight into the influence of a compromised serotonergic system on the development of drug addiction. That is, while reduced SERT function does not appear to augment the addictive properties of drugs like heroin there is reason to suspect that it does confer additional susceptibility to developing addiction to drugs like MDMA, highlighting the hypothesis that different classes of addictive substances act through different neurobiological pathways.</p>

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