The CCK-system underpins novelty-seeking behavior in the rat: gene expression and pharmacological analyses.

ABSTRACT: Cholecystokinin (CCK) and its receptor CCK-2R have been shown to promote emotional responsivity and behavioral sensitization to psychostimulants in the rat. An animal model has been developed based on locomotor response to a novel inescapable environment. Animals exhibiting consistent differences in locomotor response to novelty have been termed as high and low responder rats (HR and LR, respectively). This paradigm is deemed to model sensation-seeking, a personality trait closely associated with substance abuse. The present study provides genetic and pharmacological evidence that the CCK-ergic system modulates this behavior. Distinctive patterns of CCK-related gene expression in HR and LR animals occurred beyond the mesolimbic pathways. CCK gene expression was higher in hippocampus, amygd

SUBMITTER: Ballaz SJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2706500 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature