Dysfunctional decision-making is characteristic of numerous psychiatric disorders including schizophrenia, mood disorders, ADHD, eating disorders, pathological gambling and substance abuse. The rodent Gambling Task (rGT) is analogous to the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) and models risky decision-making in rodents. The rGT has unique response options that range from high probability of small rewards and lower probability of penalty to responses that result in low probability of larger reward and higher probability of penalty. Similar to the IGT, the optimal rGT strategy is exclusive choice of an intermediate reward/penalty response option. Importantly, similar baseline behavior exists between human and rodent subjects and supports the validity of the rGT in examining different behavioral phenotypes. In addition to strong face and construct validity, the rGT measures motor impulsivity and decision-making behaviors and integration- or dissociation- of these two behaviors is essential to characterizing the impact of different neurobiological or pharmacological manipulations. Due to monoamines' (dopamine, serotonin and norepinephrine) integral role in the modulation of reward assessment and impulsivity, we examined the impact of several monoaminergic-altering drugs: d-amphetamine, eticlopride, cocaine, methylphenidate (Ritalin), and bupropion (Wellbutrin). Although each drug differed in mechanism of action and affinity for specific monoamine transporters, only slight behavioral differences were observed in the rGT. Interestingly, all monoamine-enhancing drugs increased selection of the lowest risk option and significantly shifted behavior away from the optimal response. / A Thesis submitted to the Department of Psychology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science. / Spring Semester, 2012. / March 26, 2012. / Decision Making, Monoamines, rGT / Includes bibliographical references. / Joshua S. Rodefer, Professor Directing Dissertation; Frank Johnson, Committee Member; Walter R. Boot, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_183487 |
| Contributors | Eckrich, Samuel J. (authoraut), Rodefer, Joshua S. (professor directing dissertation), Johnson, Frank (committee member), Boot, Walter R. (committee member), Department of Psychology (degree granting department), Florida State University (degree granting institution) |
| Publisher | Florida State University, Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text |
| Format | 1 online resource, computer, application/pdf |
| Rights | This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). The copyright in theses and dissertations completed at Florida State University is held by the students who author them. |
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