β2* nicotinic acetylcholine receptor subtypes mediate nicotine-induced enhancement of Pavlovian conditioned responding to an alcohol cue.

ABSTRACT: Nicotine enhances Pavlovian conditioned responses to reward-associated cues. We investigated through which nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) subtypes nicotine acts to produce this behavioral effect to an alcohol-associated cue. Male Long-Evans rats with freely available food and water were first accustomed to drinking 15% ethanol in their home cages using an intermittent access, two-bottle choice procedure. Then the rats were given 15 Pavlovian conditioning sessions in which a 15-s audiovisual conditioned stimulus (CS) predicted the delivery of 0.2 ml of ethanol, the unconditioned stimulus (US). Each session contained 12 CS-US trials. A control group received explicitly unpaired presentations of the CS and US. We measured Pavlovian conditioned approach to the site of US delivery dur

SUBMITTER: Maddux JM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9596985 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature