Novelty/sensation seeking as a construct in human personality inventories has been extensively associated with drug use. Novelty and sensation seeking have also been associated with elevated drug intake in rodent populations, suggesting an overlap in the neural substrates that encode the reinforcing values of both of these constructs. Further examination of novel stimuli has also supported the relationship with drugs of abuse. Novel stimuli can increase mesolimbic dopamine (DA) activity and produce reinforced behavior in rodents, suggesting that the study of novelty/sensation seeking can provide insight into processes related to addiction. Preliminary data in this proposal demonstrates that dynamic visual stimuli are reinforcing in mice, as they will perform an operant response to obtain it (a task we have termed """"""""operant sensation seeking"""""""" (OSS)). Additionally, they exhibit persistent operant behavior when the stimuli are taken away, a phenomenon common to operant studies using drugs of abuse. Acute and long-term effects of OSS relative to food and cocaine will be characterized using immunohistochemistry and electrophysiology. These experiments will provide insight into how natural and drug reinforcers are encoded in the brain. The role of the glutamate mGluR5 receptor in OSS will be examined using novel pharmacological and genetic tools. This receptor is involved in mediating the reinforcing effects of drug abuse and may be important in OSS as well. Finally, the influence of genetics on OSS will be assessed by screening recombinant inbred strains of mice (BXDs) that are divergent in limbic structure, stress responsively, and exploratory behavior. These data will reveal the contributions of genetic factors that underlie reinforcement and persistent """"""""seeking"""""""" behavior following removal of OSS stimuli. Understanding how genetics can contribute to these behaviors may improve our knowledge of which people are especially at risk for addiction.

Public Health Relevance

Novelty and sensation seeking people are more likely to use drugs, especially early in age. The work proposed will compare """"""""sensation-seeking"""""""" to drug-seeking in mice. Data gathered may help find 1) drugs to help treat addiction and 2) genetic differences that contribute to addiction.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
Type
Career Transition Award (K99)
Project #
1K99DA026994-01A1
Application #
7894247
Study Section
Human Development Research Subcommittee (NIDA)
Program Officer
Lynch, Minda
Project Start
2010-04-01
Project End
2012-03-31
Budget Start
2010-04-01
Budget End
2011-03-31
Support Year
1
Fiscal Year
2010
Total Cost
$96,326
Indirect Cost
Name
Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Department
Physiology
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
004413456
City
Nashville
State
TN
Country
United States
Zip Code
37212
Muelbl, Matthew J; Nawarawong, Natalie N; Clancy, Patrick T et al. (2016) Responses to drugs of abuse and non-drug rewards in leptin deficient ob/ob mice. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 233:2799-811
Zhong, Ling; Brown, Joshua; Kramer, Audra et al. (2015) Increased prefrontal cortex neurogranin enhances plasticity and extinction learning. J Neurosci 35:7503-8
Olsen, Christopher M; Winder, Danny G (2012) Stimulus dynamics increase the self-administration of compound visual and auditory stimuli. Neurosci Lett 511:8-11
Olsen, Christopher M (2011) Natural rewards, neuroplasticity, and non-drug addictions. Neuropharmacology 61:1109-22
Lindsley, Craig W; Bates, Brittney S; Menon, Usha N et al. (2011) (3-Cyano-5-fluorophenyl)biaryl negative allosteric modulators of mGlu(5): Discovery of a new tool compound with activity in the OSS mouse model of addiction. ACS Chem Neurosci 2:471-482
Olsen, Christopher M; Childs, Daniel S; Stanwood, Gregg D et al. (2010) Operant sensation seeking requires metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 (mGluR5). PLoS One 5:e15085
Olsen, Christopher M; Winder, Danny G (2010) Operant sensation seeking in the mouse. J Vis Exp :