Search results for "Exploratory behavior"
showing 10 items of 101 documents
The relationship of personality traits to substance abuse in patients with bipolar disorder
2007
AbstractPurposeThe aim of this study is to determine if personality traits contribute to the likelihood of substance abuse in Bipolar Disorder (BD).Subjects/materials and methodsFifty-nine patients meeting DSM-IV criteria for BD: 20 without any history of Substance Related Disorder (SRD), 21 with a lifetime history of SRD but without current SRD, and 18 with current SRD. Patients filled out the TCI, the differences were analyzed by ANOVA and the likelihood was obtained by Multinomial Logistic Regression.ResultsOnly Novelty Seeking (NS) is statistically different between the groups. Patients with BD with current SRD have higher rates in NS than those with past SRD, and those without a histor…
Impulsiveness and venturesomeness in German smokers.
2011
Introduction Cigarette smoking is a behavior, which is influenced by genetic, demographic, and psychological factors. A large body of research has examined the association of cigarette smoking variables with individual differences in personality traits. The aim of the current study was to replicate the findings of higher self-reported impulsivity in smokers compared with never-smokers in a German sample using Eysenck´s construct of impulsivity. Furthermore, it was intended to further the knowledge about associations between different self-reported impulsivity components and different smoking variables. Methods We used the Impulsiveness-Venturesomeness-Empathy questionnaire (I7) to measure s…
Dynamics of the General Factor of Personality in Response to a Single Dose of Caffeine
2011
General Factor of Personality (GFP) research is an emergent field in personality research. This paper uses a theoretical mathematical model to predict the short-term effects of a dose of a stimulant drug on GFP and reports the results of an experiment showing how caffeine achieves this. This study considers the General Factor of Personality Questionnaire (GFPQ) a good psychometric approach to assess GFP. The GFP dynamic mechanism of change is based on the Unique Trait Personality Theory (UTPT). This theory proposes the existence of GFP which occupies the apex of the hierarchy of personality, and extends from an impulsiveness-and-aggressiveness pole (approach tendency) to an anxiety-andintro…
Effects of Cannabinoid Exposure during Adolescence on the Conditioned Rewarding Effects of WIN 55212-2 and Cocaine in Mice: Influence of the Novelty-…
2016
Adolescent exposure to cannabinoids enhances the behavioural effects of cocaine, and high novelty-seeking trait predicts greater sensitivity to the conditioned place preference (CPP) induced by this drug. Our aim was to evaluate the influence of novelty-seeking on the effects of adolescent cannabinoid exposure. Adolescent male mice were classified as high or low novelty seekers (HNS and LNS) in the hole-board test. First, we evaluated the CPP induced by the cannabinoid agonist WIN 55212-2 (0.05 and 0.075 mg/kg, i.p.) in HNS and LNS mice. Then, HNS and LNS mice were pretreated i.p. with vehicle, WIN 55212-2 (0.1 mg/kg), or cannabinoid antagonist rimonabant (1 mg/kg) and were subsequently con…
Perinatal exposure to 5-methoxytryptamine, behavioural-stress reactivity and functional response of 5-HT1A receptors in the adolescent rat.
2008
Abstract Serotonin is involved in a wide range of physiological and patho-physiological mechanisms. In particular, 5-HT1A receptors are proposed to mediate stress-adaptation. The aim of this research was to investigate in adolescent rats: first, the consequences of perinatal exposure to 5-metoxytryptamine (5MT), a 5-HT1/5-HT2 serotonergic agonist, on behavioural-stress reactivity in elevated plus maze, open field and forced swim tests; secondly, whether the behavioural effects induced by perinatal exposure to 5MT on open field and forced swim tests were affected by the selective 5-HT1A receptor agonist LY 228729, a compound able to elicit a characteristic set of motor behaviours on these ex…
Behavioral effects of different enriched environments in mice treated with the cholinergic agonist PNU-282987.
2013
Abstract Environmental enrichment is an experimental model in which rodents are housed in complex environments that favor lower levels of anxiety-like behavior. PNU-282987 (PNU) is a α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor agonist with beneficial effects on learning though its effects on anxiety are unclear. Our main aim was to carry out a study of its effects in NMRI ( n = 96) mice reared in different environments: environmental enrichment (EE), Marlau™ cages (MC) and standard environment (SE). After a 4-month period, mice received acute treatment of PNU (2.5, 5 and 10 mg/kg) and were evaluated in the elevated plus-maze (EPM) and hole-board (HB). In the EPM, both EE and MC reared mice showed …
Circuit Specific Functions of Cannabinoid CB1 Receptor in the Balance of Investigatory Drive and Exploration
2011
Well balanced novelty seeking and exploration are fundamental behaviours for survival and are found to be dysfunctional in several psychiatric disorders. Recent studies suggest that the endocannabinoid (eCB) system is an important control system for investigatory drive. Pharmacological treatment of rodents with cannabinergic drugs results in altered social and object investigation. Interestingly, contradictory results have been obtained, depending on the treatment, drug concentration and experimental conditions. The cannabinoid type 1 (CB1) receptor, a central component of the eCB system, is predominantly found at the synapses of two opposing neuronal populations, i.e. on inhibitory GABAerg…
Cell type‐specific genetic reconstitution of CB1 receptor subsets to assess their role in exploratory behaviour, sociability, and memory
2021
Several studies support the notion that exploratory behaviour depends on the functionality of the cannabinoid type 1 (CB1) receptor in a cell type-specific manner. Mice lacking the CB1 receptor in forebrain GABAergic or dorsal telencephalic glutamatergic neurons have served as essential tools revealing the necessary CB1 receptor functions in these two neuronal populations. However, whether these specific CB1 receptor populations are also sufficient within the endocannabinoid system for wild-type-like exploratory behaviour has remained unknown. To evaluate cell-type-specific sufficiency of CB1 receptor signalling exclusively in dorsal telencephalic glutamatergic neurons (Glu-CB1-RS) or in fo…
Interaction of inflammation, thrombosis, aspirin and enoxaparin in CNS experimental antiphospholipid syndrome
2008
Experimental antiphospholipid syndrome (eAPS) induced by immunization with beta(2)-glycoprotein I (beta(2)-GPI) causes behavioral hyperactivity. We assessed the role of thrombotic and inflammatory perivascular factors and standard APS therapies for CNS manifestations. Groups of mice (n=10 per group) were immunized once with beta(2)-GPI (eAPS) or adjuvant (controls) and treated daily from 1 month after immunization with either sham injections, aspirin (1.2 mg/kg) or enoxaparin (1 mg/kg) for 3 months. Serum antiphospholipid antibodies (aPL) and brain levels of tissue necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and prostaglandin E (PGE) were then measured by ELISA and thrombin inhibitors by immunoblot. …
Influence of the Novelty-Seeking Endophenotype on the Rewarding Effects of Psychostimulant Drugs in Animal Models
2015
Novelty seeking (NS), defined as a tendency to pursue novel and intense emotional sensations and experiences, is one of the most relevant individual factors predicting drug use among humans. High novelty seeking (HNS) individuals present an increased risk of drug use compared to low novelty seekers. The NS endophenotype may explain some of the differences observed among individuals exposed to drugs of abuse in adolescence. However, there is little research about the particular response of adolescents to drugs of abuse in function of this endophenotype, and the data that do exist are inconclusive. The present work reviews the literature regarding the influence of NS on psychostimulant reward…