0000000000524468
AUTHOR
M.carmen Arenas
Gender differences in the effects of haloperidol on avoidance conditioning in mice
Abstract Gender differences in the effects of haloperidol (0.07S mg/kg per day for 5 days) on avoidance conditioning were evaluated. We also studied performance of the subjects free of the drug and the acute effects of haloperidol in animals trained without drug 48 h after the last haloperidol administration. Latencies of escape and avoidance responses, number of nonresponses, escapes, avoidances, crossings during the adaptation period, crossings during intertrial intervals, and total crossings per minute were analyzed. This dosage impaired conditioning of the male animals but did not attain the same effects on females. Haloperidol did not deteriorate performance of the task when it had bee…
Oxytocin prevents the increase of cocaine-related responses produced by social defeat
The neuropeptide oxytocin (OXT) plays a critical role in the regulation of social and emotional behaviors. OXT plays a role in the stress response and in drug reward, but to date no studies have evaluated its implication in the long-lasting increase of the motivational effects of cocaine induced by repeated social defeat (SD). During the social defeat procedure, 1 mg/kg of OXT was administered 30 minutes before each episode of SD. Three weeks after the last defeat, the effects of cocaine on conditioned place preference (CPP), locomotor sensitization and the self-administration (SA) paradigm were evaluated. Our results confirm that raising the levels of OXT during social defeat stress can bl…