Neuroscience
The claws of addiction are hard to escape because other more salubrious rewards, like food and relationships, gradually lose their value - so goes the popular belief. But now Magalie Lenoir and Serge Ahmed have conducted studies on heroin-addicted rats that show the opposite is true - to the more highly addicted rodents, food was actually more of a beneficial distraction than it was to less addicted rats. The finding needs to be replicated in humans but has clear implications for treating addiction.
From 24 rats (see earlier), the researchers created two groups, one of which was given just one hour's access to self-administered heroin a day, and became weakly addicted. The other group had five hours' access a day, and as expected, the rats in this group became progressively more addicted, administering escalating amounts of the drug.
Next, to test the strength of the two groups' addiction, the researchers made it so the rats had to work ever harder, by pressing a lever more times, to receive a dose of heroin. This confirmed that the group given greater exposure to heroin were prepared to work harder for the drug.
Crucially, the researchers then introduced the option of food at the same time as heroin was available. To the researchers' surprise, this had the effect of reducing how hard the more strongly addicted rats were prepared to work to get heroin, whereas the more weakly affected rats were unaffected by the availability of food.
"These observations clearly showed that food consumption can act as a potent substitute for heroin use in individuals that have escalated their heroin use..." the researchers said.
The Digest asked co-researcher Serge Ahmed to comment more on the implications of this finding. "If our rat data were extrapolable to humans," he said, "then it would mean that a drug substitute exists in humans - a conclusion that should justify and encourage a search for real world drug substitutes."
_________________________________
Lenoir, M. & Ahmed, S.H. (2007). Supply of a nondrug substitute reduces escalated heroin consumption. Neuropsychopharmacology, Advance Online Publication.
Post written by Christian Jarrett (@psych_writer) for the BPS Research Digest.
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Neuroscience
Alternative rewards could help the battle against addiction
The claws of addiction are hard to escape because other more salubrious rewards, like food and relationships, gradually lose their value - so goes the popular belief. But now Magalie Lenoir and Serge Ahmed have conducted studies on heroin-addicted rats that show the opposite is true - to the more highly addicted rodents, food was actually more of a beneficial distraction than it was to less addicted rats. The finding needs to be replicated in humans but has clear implications for treating addiction.From 24 rats (see earlier), the researchers created two groups, one of which was given just one hour's access to self-administered heroin a day, and became weakly addicted. The other group had five hours' access a day, and as expected, the rats in this group became progressively more addicted, administering escalating amounts of the drug.
Next, to test the strength of the two groups' addiction, the researchers made it so the rats had to work ever harder, by pressing a lever more times, to receive a dose of heroin. This confirmed that the group given greater exposure to heroin were prepared to work harder for the drug.
Crucially, the researchers then introduced the option of food at the same time as heroin was available. To the researchers' surprise, this had the effect of reducing how hard the more strongly addicted rats were prepared to work to get heroin, whereas the more weakly affected rats were unaffected by the availability of food.
"These observations clearly showed that food consumption can act as a potent substitute for heroin use in individuals that have escalated their heroin use..." the researchers said.
The Digest asked co-researcher Serge Ahmed to comment more on the implications of this finding. "If our rat data were extrapolable to humans," he said, "then it would mean that a drug substitute exists in humans - a conclusion that should justify and encourage a search for real world drug substitutes."
_________________________________
Lenoir, M. & Ahmed, S.H. (2007). Supply of a nondrug substitute reduces escalated heroin consumption. Neuropsychopharmacology, Advance Online Publication.
Post written by Christian Jarrett (@psych_writer) for the BPS Research Digest.
- Addicts Underestimate The Power Of Their Own Craving
Sated drug addicts who have just had a hit, underestimate the influence their craving will have on them in the future, researchers have shown. The finding echoes similar research showing that when we're in a satisfied state we underestimate the motivational...
- Phew! How Rats Sigh When They're Relieved
If you ever hear a rat sigh, don’t worry it’s not because they’re getting impatient, rather it’s because they’re relieved, a behaviour that probably evolved as a safety signal to other rats. That’s according to Stefan Soltysik and Piotr Jelen...
- Dope-a-mine!
After a long hiatus, Dan Dright is posting again at N E U R O N E R D and has this to say about dopamine (and a new article in Science about impulsive rats): That's why they call it Dope-a-mine Once again the chicken/egg argument is revisited vis-a-vis...
- Orexin And The Lateral Hypothalamus
From the National Institutes of Health (NIH):FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Thursday, August 25, 2005 Researchers Identify a Brain Chemical That Plays a Key Role in Food and Drug-Seeking Behavior New research performed in rats suggests that orexin, a...
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