Inhalants are a loosely defined diverse group of volatile substances which people abuse. Despite widespread misuse of inhalants, there are limited preclinical methods available to study the reinforcement-like properties of inhalants. One procedure which has demonstrated substantial promise as a tool to investigate inhalant pharmacology is the intracranial self-stimulation (ICSS) procedure. ICSS utilizes pulses of electrical stimulation to the mesolimbic reward pathway to serve as a temporally defined and controlled operant reinforcer with a highly adjustable efficacy. The first aim of the project was to characterize the effects of commonly abused inhalants: including toluene, trichloroethane, nitrous oxide, isoflurane and R134a in ICSS. The second aim was to attenuate inhalant-facilitated ICSS by utilization of compounds which would attenuate the pharmacological actions of toluene on GABAA receptors. The low efficacy benzodiazepine negative modulator Ro15-4513 significantly attenuated the ability of toluene to facilitate ICSS without itself significantly altering baseline ICSS responding. Pretreatment with Ro15-4513 also attenuated methamphetamine ICSS even though there is no evidence of methamphetamine interacting with GABAA receptors. Given these unexpected results, I employed a microdialysis procedure to examine the effect of Ro15-4513 on methamphetamine stimulated dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens. Pretreatment with Ro15-4513 significantly attenuated methamphetamine stimulated dopamine release while having a negligible effect on dopamine release when administered alone. These results suggest that a modest level of benzodiazepine-site negative modulation can reduce the reinforcement enhancing effects of abused drugs regardless of their primary mechanism of action through allosteric modulation of GABAergic neurons within the mesolimbic pathway. Further, these results may have implications for expanding the examination of GABAA negative modulator medications beyond those trials currently being conducted with alcohol. Finally, the effects of chronic intermittent toluene exposure on ICSS and nesting behaviors were examined. Subjects were systemically exposed to air, chronic intermittent toluene (CIT), or escalating chronic intermittent (ECIT) toluene for 15 min at 3300 PPM toluene vapor per exposure. The results show that ECIT resulted in decreased overall responding in ICSS relative to air control and showed a tolerance-like effect to facilitatory effects of 3300 ppm toluene during ICSS compared to CIT group. These results indicate that escalating use of toluene produces reductions in its reward-like effects and may contribute to escalation to other drugs of abuse.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-07-27T14:22:13Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Vinicius Pereira Pinto Xavier.pdf: 594316 bytes, checksum: 4586439adc53dfea50941401942699fd (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-10-08 / Consumer behavior can be defined as being a wide class o behavior that holds events, like: buying, savings, betting, choosing, adopting innovations, as well consuming services, including present or past activities, in order to predict future consumption. From a behavioral perspective (Behavior Perspective Model- BPM), consumer behavior occurs between the consumer s setting and agent s learning history, which in its turn signals the aversive and reinforcing consequences of his/her actions. The present work aimed to draw consumption patterns in two markets, a bigger one, and a smaller one, in order to verify the relationships between differences in both setting scope (measured from quantity of available brands) and price of Rice, Beans, Cofee, Sugar, and Soybean Oil against relative quantity bought and relative buying frequency. It was used two protocols to collect data from 200 consumers during the cash payment (100 in each market), and to provide data on products brands availability and price. The results showed differences in relative consumption frequency and quantity related to brands range, as so to price variations, except for Sugar. On these bases, the present work extends the findings about setting scope on consumer behavior. / Comportamento do consumidor pode ser definido como sendo uma ampla classe de comportamentos que comporta eventos como: comprar, poupar, apostar, escolher marcas e produtos, adotar inovações ou consumir serviços, incluindo em seu bojo atividades do indivíduo no presente, no passado e visando prever consumos futuros. Sob uma perspectiva comportamental (Behavior Perspective Model - BPM) o comportamento do consumidor ocorre entre o cenário de consumo e a história de aprendizagem do agente que, por sua vez, vai sinalizar as consequências aversivas e reforçadoras de suas ações. O trabalho em questão busca traçar o padrão de compra de consumidores de dois mercados, o primeiro de grande porte e o segundo de porte menor, verificando a relação entre as diferenças em aspectos da abertura do cenário (variedade de marcas disponíveis) e preços dos produtos Arroz, Feijão, Café, Açúcar e Óleo de Soja com a quantidade relativa de produtos comprados e frequência relativa de compra. Foram utilizados dois protocolos de registro para coletar os dados referentes às compras de 200 consumidores no ato do pagamento (100 em cada mercado) e para coletar os dados referentes à quantidade de marcas disponíveis de cada produto e seus respectivos preços. Os resultados mostraram diferenças na frequência relativa de consumo e na quantidade comprada relacionadas à quantidade de marcas disponíveis, além de variações nos preços, exceto para o produto Açúcar. Com isso, o presente trabalho estende os dados sobre os efeitos da abertura do cenário.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-29T13:17:54Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Julia Guedes da Rocha.pdf: 2044999 bytes, checksum: 3f5d261f70d0305bf0af675f87bc5671 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-08-25 / Deprivation is an important operation to establish the value of the reinforcer and, consequently, affect the frequency of a class of operant responses. Since his firsts studies, Skinner dealt with deprivation from the concept of drive. After him, many authors in behavior analysis gave an important role to this phenomenon in their work. Despite that, it seems that deprivation especially water and food deprivation are discussed in this dissertation has been neglected by behavior analysts. It has been found only 193 articles about this subject in behavior analysis or in experimental psychology over a period of 80 years. The subject also seems to be marginal in terms of research programs. There are many complex questions regarding the effects of, eg., deprivation history, different deprivation procedures and interactions among deprivations. Deprivation has been used as a mere experimental procedure to establish certain reinforcers, without caring to other possible effects of this procedure. Many authors merely report, in the method, the value of the percentage of free feeding body weight, under which the subject was kept. The studies that have been analyzed showed that some care must be taken when studying experimentally deprivation or when using it as a procedure. For example, it is necessary to control the deprivation history, to choose the best the procedure (amount or time restriction) and the criteria used (eg., percentage of free feeding body weight), to think about the ethical questions involved, etc / A privação é uma operação importante por estabelecer o valor do reforço e, consequentemente, afetar a frequência de uma classe de respostas operante. Desde seus primeiros estudos, Skinner lidou com a privação a partir do conceito de drive e, depois dele, diversos autores da análise do comportamento deram papel de destaque para esse fenômeno em seus manuais. Apesar disso, parece que a privação especialmente de água e de alimento é tratada no presente estudo vem sendo negligenciada pelos analistas do comportamento. Foram encontrados apenas 193 artigos sobre o tema em análise do comportamento e na psicologia experimental em um período de 80 anos. O tema também parece ser marginal em termos de programas de pesquisa. Existem diversas questões complexas no que se refere aos efeitos de, por exemplo, história de privação, diferentes procedimentos de privação e interações entre privações. Um problema que vem acontecendo em estudos com animais é a utilização da privação como um mero procedimento experimental para estabelecer determinado estímulo como reforçador, sem se preocupar em outros possíveis efeitos desse procedimento. Muitos autores se limitam a relatar no método o valor da porcentagem de peso ad lib sob o qual o sujeito era mantido. A partir dos estudos analisados, foram levantados alguns cuidados que devem ser tomados ao se estudar experimentalmente a privação e ao utilizar a mesma como um procedimento. Por exemplo, é preciso controlar a história de privação, escolher bem o procedimento (restrição de quantidade ou de tempo) e critério utilizados (porcentagem do peso ad lib, por exemplo), pensar nas questões éticas envolvidas, entre outros

Adolescents often make adult decisions regarding their lifestyle and behavior with little support from their family and community. In this study the researcher examined the difference in risk-taking behaviors between genders and the role that families and communities play in reducing risk-taking behaviors. In the study I further analyzed self-reports of numbers of development assets those students reporting participation in high-risk behaviors. Method: Data were obtained from a sample of convenience of (N=82) 12th grade students. Behaviors and attitudes were examined using the Search Institute’s Profiles of Student Life survey. Results: Chi square was used to test for significant differences in risk-taking behaviors between genders and levels of developmental assets. Males were more likely than females to participate in alcohol and substance use χ2 (1, N=82) = 63.95, p <0.05 and more likely to participate in violent risk-taking behaviors: physically hurt someone once or more in the last twelve months χ2 (1, N=82) = 22.73, p<0.05, used a weapon to get something χ2 (1, N=82) = 44.45, p<0.05, been in a group fight once or more in the last twelve months χ2 (1, N=82) = 29.33, p<0.05, carried a weapon for protection χ2 (1, N=82) = 23.78, p<0.05, and threatened physical harm to someone χ2 (1, N=82) = 46.2, p<0.05. Females were more likely to participate in sexual intercourse than males χ2 (1, N=82) = 214.08, p<0.05 and to have hit someone once or more in the last twelve months χ2 (1, N=82) = 11.53, p<0.05. In the area of risk-taking behaviors related to developmental assets, students who participated in the problem behaviors had fewer developmental assets than those not participating in the behavior. The exceptions to this were using a gun to get something from a person χ2 (1, N=82) = 72.4, p<0.05 and carrying a gun for protection χ2 (1, N=82) = 30.63, p<0.05. Conclusions: Findings from this study emphasize the need for community-based programs that enhance youth bonding with family and community. Furthermore, it reinforces the national goals aimed at reducing risk-taking behaviors such as alcohol and substance use, early sexual intercourse, and youth violence. Programs aimed at prevention and intervention that address the specific needs of males and females are recommended.

With the growth of fashion consumption through websites and e-tailers, the question of when and why consumers engage in shopping without the intent to purchase has gained new relevance. A novel framework for understanding this phenomenon comes from studies examining the neural basis of aesthetic appreciation. Previous studies in neuroaesthetics have identified brain regions associated with value and reward, including the nucleus accumbens (NAcc) and ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC), as involved during attractiveness judgments even when no physical product is consumed. Along with research demonstrating that attractive stimuli can serve as economic incentives to motivate behavior, these results suggest that the experience of aesthetic appreciation can have value in and of itself, similar to the hedonic value previously proposed to explain shopping without the intent to purchase. The proposed study examines whether fashion browsing can be considered a type of aesthetic experience. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) will be used to measure neural activation as female subjects (N=50) view fashion images. If fashion browsing is a type of aesthetic experience, we would expect it serve as an economic incentive and motivate work. Additionally, the NAcc and VMPFC during browsing should show increasing activation with increasing attractiveness of fashion content. Individual differences in self-reported fashion browsing behavior will correlate with the degree of neural differentiation to fashion content such that individuals who spend more time per week browsing will have higher BOLD signal NAcc and VMPFC activation during the experimental task. Fashion browsing as an aesthetic experience could serve as a crucial mechanism to develop a greater understanding of an important aspect of the consumer shopping experience.

The marriage of perspectives from behavioral economic theory and learning theory has the potential to advance an understanding of substance use and substance use disorder. Behavioral economic demand is a central concept to this interdisciplinary approach. Evaluating demand in the laboratory and clinic can improve previous research on the relative reinforcing effects of drugs by accounting for the multi-dimensional nature of reinforcement rather than viewing reinforcement as a unitary construct. Recent advances in the commodity purchase task methodology have further simplified the measurement of demand values in human participants. This dissertation project presents a programmatic series of studies designed to demonstrate the utility of using a behavioral economic demand framework and the purchase task methodology for understanding substance use disorder through basic and applied science research. Experiments are presented spanning a continuum from theoretical and methodological development to longitudinal work and clinical application. These experiments demonstrate three key conclusions regarding behavioral economic demand. First, behavioral economic demand provides a reliable and valid measure of drug valuation that is applicable to varied drug types and participant populations. Second, behavioral economic demand is a stimulus-selective measure specifically reflecting valuation for the commodity under study. Third, behavioral economic demand provides incremental information about substance use in the laboratory and clinical setting above and beyond traditional measures of reinforcer valuation and other behavioral economic variables. These findings collectively highlight the benefits of behavioral economic demand and provide an important platform for future work in addiction science.

Co-users of alcohol and nicotine are the largest group of polysubstance users worldwide. Although pharmacotherapies are available for alcohol (EtOH) or tobacco use disorders individually, it may be possible to develop a single pharmacotherapy to treat heavy drinking tobacco smokers through capitalizing on the commonalities in their mechanisms of action. Towards this goal, several models of concurrent access to EtOH and nicotine were explored as potential preclinical models of co-use using female alcohol-preferring (P) rats. Additionally, potential pharmacotherapeutics for the treatment of EtOH and nicotine co-use disorder were tested using different variations of our model. Treatments tested included (1) varenicline, a nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) partial agonist with high affinity for the α4β2* subtype; (2) r-bPiDI, a subtype-selective antagonist at α6β2* nAChRs; (3) (R)-modafinil, an atypical inhibitor of the dopamine transporter (DAT); and (4) naltrexone, a clinically available µ-opioid receptor antagonist used to treat alcohol use disorder (AUD). Results from the current dissertation show success in developing a translational animal model in female P rats for co-use of EtOH and nicotine under which pharmacologically relevant levels of both EtOH consumption and nicotine intake are achieved. Additionally, our model was successfully used in testing potential pharmacotherapeutics for the treatment of EtOH and nicotine co-use disorder. Although none of the drugs tested were effective as a monotherapy, results from testing the known smoking cessation agent varenicline and the known AUD treatment naltrexone indicate that our model is effective for selectively measuring changes in EtOH and nicotine intake separately, which suggests the beneficial utility of this model for future treatment research. Furthermore, by applying behavioral economic principles to our findings, we found that EtOH acts as an economic substitute for nicotine. Additionally, our behavioral economic analyses revealed that when the cost of nicotine is changed via response requirements vs dose per infusion, there are differences in the elasticity of demand for concurrently available EtOH and nicotine. Finally, the relatively flat consumption curve for EtOH following varenicline pretreatment suggests that pretreatment with varenicline acts to disrupt the relationship between EtOH and nicotine such that EtOH no longer acts as an economic substitute for nicotine.

Functional analyses (FAs) are a common tool used in the assessment and treatment of severe problem behaviors and often occur in the context of clinical settings with unfamiliar, trained staff. Previous research suggests that inconsistent outcomes can emerge when caregivers with an existing history of seeing their child’s challenging behavior are trained to implement the assessment in place of clinical staff. The purpose of the current study was to expand on existing literature by comparing FA implemented by clinical staff and caregivers in the context of a clinical setting. Results demonstrate that efficient identification of function and differentiated rates of problem behavior given the inclusion of caregivers during assessment may vary based on the child’s existing history of responding with those caregivers. Implications of results for researchers and practitioners are discussed.

Public safety radio dispatchers incontrovertibly have to manage multiple tasks at any given time, from relaying lifesaving information to field units, to simultaneously overseeing several monitors and keeping up with the radio transmissions in a timely manner. Interestingly, however, the underlying cognitive abilities necessitated for performing such tasks have not been thoroughly investigated. To begin understanding the cognitive faculties that underlie dispatching tasks, we gauged cognitive ability measures relevant to dispatcher duties and introduced Working Memory Capacity (WMC) as underlying the differentiation on performance. The four general dispatcher cognitive factors identified by Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) literature, were Reasoning, Perceptual, Memory, and Verbal. This study substantiated the relationship that higher WMC had on increased performance of the four factors; WMC was a strong predictor of overall cognitive task accuracy. This study also measured dispatcher abilities detached from any dispatcher-like duties, to better explore the cognitive underpinnings without the confound of dispatcher-like tasks within the measures. High and low WMC group comparisons also revealed accuracy differences in cognitive abilities, task switching costs, and dual-task interference. Overall, this study provides support for WMC’s executive functioning as a key underlying mechanism determining dispatcher cognitive ability level.

Aims: Untreated opioid use disorder (OUD) is associated with overdose, premature death and infectious disease, including human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and Hepatitis C (HCV). While prior studies have shown that educational interventions are associated with improvements in HIV and HCV knowledge and reductions in risk behaviors, those examined to date have typically been time- and resource-intensive. We recently developed an HIV+HCV Education intervention which aims to improve HIV and HCV knowledge in a single visit using an automated iPad platform. In this project, we examined its ability, using a within-subject evaluation, to improve knowledge of HIV and HCV transmission and risks among adults with OUD. Methods: Participants were 25 adults with OUD who were enrolled in a 12-week randomized trial evaluating the efficacy of an Interim Buprenorphine Treatment (IBT) for reducing illicit opioid use while awaiting entry into community-based opioid treatment. Participants completed a baseline HIV+HCV knowledge assessment (Pre-Test) followed by corrective feedback, both administered via iPad. They then completed an interactive HIV flipbook and animated HCV video, also on iPad, followed by a second administration of the knowledge assessment (Post-Test). Finally, to evaluate whether any changes in knowledge persisted over time, the HIV+HCV assessment was administered again at 4 and 12 weeks following study intake. Results: At baseline (Pre-Test), participants answered 69% and 65% of items correctly on the HIV and HCV assessments, respectively. After completing the educational intervention, participants answered 86% of items correctly on both the HIV and HCV assessments (p’s<.001). These improvements in knowledge also persisted throughout the three-month study, with scores at Week 4 and 12 timepoints significantly greater than baseline (p’s<.001). Conclusion: An HIV+Hepatitis Education intervention delivered via a portable, automated iPad platform may produce significant and persistent improvements in HIV and HCV knowledge among adults with OUD. These data provide additional support for the use of mobile educational interventions for enhancing HIV and HCV knowledge in individuals at elevated risk for infectious disease. Support: This trial was supported by NIDA R34 DA3730385 (Sigmon) with additional support by NIDA T32 DA007242 (Higgins).