2001 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
Studies on neural mechanisms of drug dependence
| Project/Area Number |
10670919
|
|---|
| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
|
| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
|---|
| Section | 一般 |
|---|
| Research Field |
Psychiatric science
|
|---|
| Research Institution | The Jikei University Shool of Medicine |
|---|
Principal Investigator |
MIYATA Hisatsugu Jikei University Shool of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Lecturer, 医学部, 講師 (70239416)
|
|---|
| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
KATSU Hisatoshi Jikei University School of Medicine, Faculty of Medocine, Clinical and Reseach Fellow, 医学部, 助手 (30307425)
WAKUTSU Naomi Jikei University School of Medicine, Faculty of Medocine, Clinical and Reseach Fellow, 医学部, 助手 (80301539)
|
|---|
| Project Period (FY) |
1998 – 2001
|
| Keywords | Drug dependence / Intracranial self-stimulation / Conditioned place preference / Reward system / Withdrawal / Conditioned place preference / Nicotine / Methamphetamine |
|---|
| Research Abstract |
The purpose of the present study was to clarify neural mechanisms of a compulsive desire for a drug, based on a recent finding that the compulsion to take a drug is a core aspect of drug dependence. First, both of nicotine and methamphetamine lowered intracranial self-stimulation (ICSS) brain reward thresholds following chronic administration, and elevated ICSS thresholds during withdrawal from these drugs in the ICSS experiment using rats. However, changes in brain reward function caused by nicotine were less in degree compared with those seen in methamphetamine. Secondly, both of nicotine and methamphetamine produced conditioned place aversion (CPA) during their antagonists-precipitated withdrawal in the CPA experiment. And the degree of CPA observed during nicotine withdrawal was less intensive compared with that observed during methamphetamine withdrawal. Together with these results, the elevation of ICSS thresholds is considered to be implicated in dysphoria during withdrawal from nicotine and methamphetamine. And it is suggested that the ability of nicotine to produce less intensive dysphoria during nicotine withdrawal is involved in less intensive psychic dependence potential. Thirdly, the lesion of the ventral tegmental area and of the amygdals attenuated conditioned place preference caused by methamphetamine.
|
Research Products
(13 results)
