High locomotor reactivity to novelty is associated with an increased propensity to choose saccharin over cocaine: new insights into the vulnerability to addiction.

ABSTRACT: Drug addiction is associated with a relative devaluation of natural or socially-valued reinforcers that are unable to divert addicts from seeking and consuming the drug. Before protracted drug exposure, most rats prefer natural rewards, such as saccharin, over cocaine. However, a subpopulation of animals prefer cocaine over natural rewards and are thought to be vulnerable to addiction. Specific behavioral traits have been associated with different dimensions of drug addiction. For example, anxiety predicts loss of control over drug intake whereas sensation seeking and sign-tracking are markers of a greater sensitivity to the rewarding properties of the drug. However, how these behavioral traits predict the disinterest for natural reinforcers remains unknown. In a population of rats, we ide

SUBMITTER: Vanhille N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4289945 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature