Adolescence is an extremely vulnerable time for becoming addicted to smoking. The proposed study will examine the interaction between drug abuse and social reward during this developmental time period. Specifically, nicotine will be studied because of the serious health threat this drug poses to adolescents, as well as the interesting reinforcement-enhancing and reward-enhancing properties it possesses. An important step for researchers is identifying the salient cues that may become associated with smoking. Social cues are particularly salient in the lives of adolescents. The interaction between social factors that underlie nicotine use and the pharmacological properties of the drug itself are unclear. We hypothesize that nicotine may actually enhance social reward, and, in addition, that the nicotine drug state itself may become a conditioned reinforcer following repeated pairings with rewarding social interactions. Cigarette experimentation typically takes place in social situations;therefore, these previous hypotheses regarding nicotine and social reward interactions have severe implications for addiction, especially for adolescents with unrealistic opinions about their ability to experiment without becoming addicted. The proposed line of research will promote a better understanding of the factors that lead to nicotine initiation and maintenance, specifically the importance of drug use in social settings. Using an animal model of nicotine addiction, two behavioral paradigms will be employed. First, we will establish the rewarding effects of nicotine via different routes of administration (i.e., SC or IV) using the conditioned place preference (CPP) model. Next, we will examine nicotine's reward-enhancing effects by studying how it affects the acquisition and expression of social reward-CPP. Finally, we will examine how nicotine initiation and maintenance are facilitated by previous pairings of the nicotine drug state with social interaction using the drug self-administration model. The ultimate direction of these studies will be to use the models established to examine the neural mechanisms that underlie drug and social reward interactions during adolescence. This behavioral explanation of how social cues play a role in nicotine initiation and maintenance will warrant an investigation into the neurobiology underlying this effect. Once the physiological processes of this interaction are explained, a combination of behavioral and pharmacological preventions/interventions could be aimed at minimizing the risk of prolonged nicotine addiction. These integrated treatment therapies would reduce the health impact that cigarette smoking has on society.
