Cargando…

Psychopharmacological characterisation of the successive negative contrast effect in rats

RATIONALE: Successive negative contrast (SNC) describes a change in the behaviour of an animal following a downshift in the quantitative or qualitative value of an expected reward. This behavioural response has been hypothesised to be linked to affective state, with negative states associated with l...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Phelps, C. E., Mitchell, E. N., Nutt, D. J., Marston, H. M., Robinson, E. S. J.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Springer Berlin Heidelberg 2015
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4502301/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25791190
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00213-015-3905-2
_version_ 1782381179836563456
author Phelps, C. E.
Mitchell, E. N.
Nutt, D. J.
Marston, H. M.
Robinson, E. S. J.
author_facet Phelps, C. E.
Mitchell, E. N.
Nutt, D. J.
Marston, H. M.
Robinson, E. S. J.
author_sort Phelps, C. E.
collection PubMed
description RATIONALE: Successive negative contrast (SNC) describes a change in the behaviour of an animal following a downshift in the quantitative or qualitative value of an expected reward. This behavioural response has been hypothesised to be linked to affective state, with negative states associated with larger and/or prolonged shifts in behaviour. OBJECTIVE: This study has investigated whether different psychopharmacological treatments have dissociable actions on the SNC effect in rats and related these findings to their actions on different neurotransmitter systems and affective state. METHODS: Animals were trained to perform a nose-poke response to obtain a high-value food reward (four pellets). SNC was quantified during devalue sessions in which the reward was reduced to one pellet. Using a within-subject study design, the effects of acute treatment with anxiolytic, anxiogenic, antidepressant and dopaminergic drugs were investigated during both baseline (four pellets) or devalue sessions (one pellet). RESULTS: The indirect dopamine agonist, amphetamine, attenuated the SNC effect whilst the D1/D2 antagonist, alpha-flupenthixol, potentiated it. The antidepressant citalopram, anxiolytic buspirone and anxiogenic FG7142 had no specific effects on SNC, although FG7142 induced general impairments at higher doses. The α(2)-adrenoceptor antagonist, yohimbine, increased premature responding but had no specific effect on SNC. Results for the anxiolytic diazepam were mixed with one group showing an attenuation of the SNC effect whilst the other showed no effect. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that the SNC effect is mediated, at least in part, by dopamine signalling. The SNC effect may also be attenuated by benzodiazepine anxiolytics.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-4502301
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2015
publisher Springer Berlin Heidelberg
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-45023012015-07-17 Psychopharmacological characterisation of the successive negative contrast effect in rats Phelps, C. E. Mitchell, E. N. Nutt, D. J. Marston, H. M. Robinson, E. S. J. Psychopharmacology (Berl) Original Investigation RATIONALE: Successive negative contrast (SNC) describes a change in the behaviour of an animal following a downshift in the quantitative or qualitative value of an expected reward. This behavioural response has been hypothesised to be linked to affective state, with negative states associated with larger and/or prolonged shifts in behaviour. OBJECTIVE: This study has investigated whether different psychopharmacological treatments have dissociable actions on the SNC effect in rats and related these findings to their actions on different neurotransmitter systems and affective state. METHODS: Animals were trained to perform a nose-poke response to obtain a high-value food reward (four pellets). SNC was quantified during devalue sessions in which the reward was reduced to one pellet. Using a within-subject study design, the effects of acute treatment with anxiolytic, anxiogenic, antidepressant and dopaminergic drugs were investigated during both baseline (four pellets) or devalue sessions (one pellet). RESULTS: The indirect dopamine agonist, amphetamine, attenuated the SNC effect whilst the D1/D2 antagonist, alpha-flupenthixol, potentiated it. The antidepressant citalopram, anxiolytic buspirone and anxiogenic FG7142 had no specific effects on SNC, although FG7142 induced general impairments at higher doses. The α(2)-adrenoceptor antagonist, yohimbine, increased premature responding but had no specific effect on SNC. Results for the anxiolytic diazepam were mixed with one group showing an attenuation of the SNC effect whilst the other showed no effect. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that the SNC effect is mediated, at least in part, by dopamine signalling. The SNC effect may also be attenuated by benzodiazepine anxiolytics. Springer Berlin Heidelberg 2015-03-21 2015 /pmc/articles/PMC4502301/ /pubmed/25791190 http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00213-015-3905-2 Text en © The Author(s) 2015 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Open AccessThis article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits any use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and the source are credited.
spellingShingle Original Investigation
Phelps, C. E.
Mitchell, E. N.
Nutt, D. J.
Marston, H. M.
Robinson, E. S. J.
Psychopharmacological characterisation of the successive negative contrast effect in rats
title Psychopharmacological characterisation of the successive negative contrast effect in rats
title_full Psychopharmacological characterisation of the successive negative contrast effect in rats
title_fullStr Psychopharmacological characterisation of the successive negative contrast effect in rats
title_full_unstemmed Psychopharmacological characterisation of the successive negative contrast effect in rats
title_short Psychopharmacological characterisation of the successive negative contrast effect in rats
title_sort psychopharmacological characterisation of the successive negative contrast effect in rats
topic Original Investigation
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4502301/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25791190
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00213-015-3905-2
work_keys_str_mv AT phelpsce psychopharmacologicalcharacterisationofthesuccessivenegativecontrasteffectinrats
AT mitchellen psychopharmacologicalcharacterisationofthesuccessivenegativecontrasteffectinrats
AT nuttdj psychopharmacologicalcharacterisationofthesuccessivenegativecontrasteffectinrats
AT marstonhm psychopharmacologicalcharacterisationofthesuccessivenegativecontrasteffectinrats
AT robinsonesj psychopharmacologicalcharacterisationofthesuccessivenegativecontrasteffectinrats