Browsing by Subject "Drinking"
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Item Ethanol Seeking by Long Evans Rats Is Not Always a Goal-Directed Behavior(Public Library of Science, 2012-08-03) Mangieri, Regina A.; Cofresí, Roberto U.; Gonzales, Rueben A.Background -- Two parallel and interacting processes are said to underlie animal behavior, whereby learning and performance of a behavior is at first via conscious and deliberate (goal-directed) processes, but after initial acquisition, the behavior can become automatic and stimulus-elicited (habitual). With respect to instrumental behaviors, animal learning studies suggest that the duration of training and the action-outcome contingency are two factors involved in the emergence of habitual seeking of “natural” reinforcers (e.g., sweet solutions, food or sucrose pellets). To rigorously test whether behaviors reinforced by abused substances such as ethanol, in particular, similarly become habitual was the primary aim of this study. Methodology/Principal Findings -- Male Long Evans rats underwent extended or limited operant lever press training with 10% sucrose/10% ethanol (10S10E) reinforcement (variable interval (VI) or (VR) ratio schedule of reinforcement), or with 10% sucrose (10S) reinforcement (VI schedule only). Once training and pretesting were complete, the impact of outcome devaluation on operant behavior was evaluated after lithium chloride injections were paired with the reinforcer, or unpaired 24 hours later. After limited, but not extended instrumental training, lever pressing by groups trained under VR with 10S10E and under VI with 10S was sensitive to outcome devaluation. In contrast, responding by both the extended and limited training 10S10E VI groups was not sensitive to ethanol devaluation during the test for habitual behavior. Conclusions/Significance -- Operant behavior by rats trained to self-administer an ethanol-sucrose solution showed variable sensitivity to a change in the value of ethanol, with relative insensitivity developing sooner in animals that received time-variable ethanol reinforcement during training sessions. One important implication, with respect to substance abuse in humans, is that initial learning about the relationship between instrumental actions and the opportunity to consume ethanol-containing drinks can influence the time course for the development or expression of habitual ethanol seeking behavior.Item Gene Expression in Brain and Liver Produced by Three Different Regimens of Alcohol Consumption in Mice: Comparison with Immune Activation(Public Library of Science, 2013-03-29) Osterndorff-Kahanek, Elizabeth; Ponomarev, Igor; Blednov, Yuri A.; Harris, R. AdronChronically available alcohol escalates drinking in mice and a single injection of the immune activator lipopolysaccharide can mimic this effect and result in a persistent increase in alcohol consumption. We hypothesized that chronic alcohol drinking and lipopolysaccharide injections will produce some similar molecular changes that play a role in regulation of alcohol intake. We investigated the molecular mechanisms of chronic alcohol consumption or lipopolysaccharide insult by gene expression profiling in prefrontal cortex and liver of C57BL/6J mice. We identified similar patterns of transcriptional changes among four groups of animals, three consuming alcohol (vs water) in different consumption tests and one injected with lipopolysaccharide (vs. vehicle). The three tests of alcohol consumption are the continuous chronic two bottle choice (Chronic), two bottle choice available every other day (Chronic Intermittent) and limited access to one bottle of ethanol (Drinking in the Dark). Gene expression changes were more numerous and marked in liver than in prefrontal cortex for the alcohol treatments and similar in the two tissues for lipopolysaccharide. Many of the changes were unique to each treatment, but there was significant overlap in prefrontal cortex for Chronic-Chronic Intermittent and for Chronic Intermittent-lipopolysaccharide and in liver all pairs showed overlap. In silico cell-type analysis indicated that lipopolysaccharide had strongest effects on brain microglia and liver Kupffer cells. Pathway analysis detected a prefrontal cortex-based dopamine-related (PPP1R1B, DRD1, DRD2, FOSB, PDNY) network that was highly over-represented in the Chronic Intermittent group, with several genes from the network being also regulated in the Chronic and lipopolysaccharide (but not Drinking in the Dark) groups. Liver showed a CYP and GST centered metabolic network shared in part by all four treatments. We demonstrate common consequences of chronic alcohol consumption and immune activation in both liver and brain and show distinct genomic consequences of different types of alcohol consumption.Item A structural equation model of alcohol use patterns among young adults in the U.S. military : complexities among stress, drinking motives, impulsivity, coping, alcohol use and job performance(2008-12) Sohn, Sunju; DiNitto, Diana M.; Schwab, A. JamesThe primary aim of this study was to provide a model that depicts the alcohol use patterns of young males in the U.S. military. Using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) based on a secondary data analysis of the 2005 Department of Defense (DoD) Survey of Health Related Behaviors Among Military Personnel, the researcher developed and tested a multivariate model of alcohol use patterns that incorporates psychological factors (i.e., work stress, family stress, and drinking motives) and developmental factors (i.e., impulsivity) associated with drinking and job performance among young adults. Multiple fit indices were used to assess the model fit. Bootstrapping and multiple group analysis were used to determine mediating effects of drinking motives and moderating effects of coping on stress and impulsivity induced alcohol use. The sample included 1,715 young (aged 18-25) male military personnel. The proposed model shows a good fit with the 2005 DoD data set. Controlling for service region, race/ethnicity, marital status, pay grade, and education level, the multivariate analyses provide limited support for a direct (positive) relationship between stress and alcohol use. The study does provide evidence for a fully mediated model of stress and alcohol use via drinking motives (e.g., drinking to forget about problems or to cheer oneself up from bad mood). Drinking motives also significantly mediated the relationship between impulsivity and alcohol use. These findings support the life stress paradigm and clarify the nature of the relationship between stress and alcohol use by verifying that cognitive processes have a substantial effect on drinking patterns. A multiple group analysis, however, showed that positive coping behaviors (e.g. talking to a friend or family member, saying a prayer, exercising or play sports, engaging in a hobby, getting something to eat, and thinking of a plan to solve a problem) do not significantly affect the relationship between stress and alcohol use. Implications for future research and practice include the importance of focusing on the mediating role of drinking motives as it may provide a critical intervention component for targeting stress-induced alcohol use. The findings also suggest the need to understand how young males’ impulsivity is linked to alcohol use and job performance directly and indirectly through drinking motives.