Effects of the cannabinoid receptor agonist CP-55,940 on incentive salience attribution.

ABSTRACT:

Rationale

Pavlovian conditioned approach paradigms are used to characterize the nature of motivational behaviors in response to stimuli as either directed toward the cue (i.e., sign-tracking) or the site of reward delivery (i.e., goal-tracking). Recent evidence has shown that activity of the endocannabinoid system increases dopaminergic activity in the mesocorticolimbic system, and other studies have shown that sign-tracking behaviors are dependent on dopamine.

Objectives

Therefore, we hypothesized that administration of a cannabinoid agonist would increase sign-tracking and decrease goal-tracking behaviors.

Methods

Forty-seven adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were given a low, medium, or high dose of the cannabinoid agonist CP-55,940 (N = 12 per group) or saline (N = 1

SUBMITTER: Gheidi A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7502542 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature