Alexandria Digital Research Library

An investigation of the neural substrates underlying the anxiogenic effects of cocaine

Author:
Wenzel, Jennifer M.
Degree Grantor:
University of California, Santa Barbara. Psychology
Degree Supervisor:
Aaron Ettenberg
Place of Publication:
[Santa Barbara, Calif.]
Publisher:
University of California, Santa Barbara
Creation Date:
2013
Issued Date:
2013
Topics:
Psychology, Clinical, Psychology, General, and Biology, Neuroscience
Keywords:
Dopamine
Corticotropin Releasing Hormone
Rat
Norepinephrine
Anxiety
Cocaine
Genres:
Online resources and Dissertations, Academic
Dissertation:
Ph.D.--University of California, Santa Barbara, 2013
Description:

Cocaine self-administration is known to produce both positive/euphoric and negative/anxiogenic effects. While the rewarding effects of cocaine have been well documented, the neurobiology underlying its anxiogenic effects remains unclear. Our laboratory has employed two behavioral assays to study these opposing actions of cocaine: a runway self-administration test, and a modified place conditioning test. In the runway, the positive and negative effects of cocaine are reflected in the frequency of approach-avoidance conflict behavior that animals develop about entering a goal box associated with cocaine delivery. In the place conditioning test, animals develop preferences for environments paired with the immediate/rewarding effects of cocaine but avoid environments paired with the drug's delayed/anxiogenic actions. The investigations detailed in this dissertation utilize both of these behavioral models in an attempt to understand the neurobiology underlying the negative/anxiogenic effects of cocaine. Four studies were designed and executed to address three broad aims: (1) to determine if the reward-related neurotransmitter dopamine plays a role in cocaine's negative effects, (2) to identify specific brain regions critical to the experience of cocaine's anxiogenic properties, and (3) to examine the role of neurotransmitter systems within identified structures in these properties. Altogether, the experiments detailed in this thesis do not support a role for dopamine in cocaine's anxiogenic effects, but, rather, outline a role for norepinephrine neurotransmission within the extended amygdala in the delayed/negative effects of cocaine administration.

Physical Description:
1 online resource (246 pages)
Format:
Text
Collection(s):
UCSB electronic theses and dissertations
ARK:
ark:/48907/f3b27sd4
ISBN:
9781303732096
Catalog System Number:
990041153640203776
Rights:
Inc.icon only.dark In Copyright
Copyright Holder:
Jennifer Wenzel
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