Year: 2015
Type: dissertation
Abstract: Current theories of substance dependence suggest that contributions to compulsive drug use may include the aberrant recruitment of cognitive processes normally responsible for automatizing repeated behaviors, or “forming habits”. While evidence has shown that both ethanol and cocaine can abnormally accelerate the formation of drug-seeking habits, whether this could be the case for nicotine has received little attention. In the current work, subjects acquired self-administration of both intravenous nicotine and orally consumed saccharin in two separate daily operant sessions, receiving 10 sessions of FR1 training for each reinforcer. Behavioral assays of “aversion-pairing” and “contingency degradation” were respectively utilized in Experiments 1 and 2 to determine if responding for each reward was goal-directed or habitual. Both tests were consistent in suggesting the training parameters employed produced goal-directed saccharin responding, but habitual nicotine responding. Particularly noteworthy is the exceptionally rapid rate at which nicotine-seeking habits appear to have developed.
Source: TSpace (University of Toronto)
Author: A. Loughlin
Language: English
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2626705299