Recent evidence suggests that cannabis can impair simple auditory processes, and these alterations might be due to cannabinoid agonism. The effect of cannabinoid agonism on relatively complex processes such as auditory discrimination is unknown. The goal of this study was to examine the impact of WIN 55,212-2, a CB 1 receptor and CB 2 receptor agonism, on auditory discrimination using a...
Behavioural PharmacologyJune 1, 2016Natashia Swalve, Michele M. Mulholland, Tiffany D. Schulz et al.
Patients with schizophrenia smoke cigarettes at a higher rate than the general population. We hypothesized that a factor in this comorbidity is sensitivity to the reinforcing and reinforcement-enhancement effects of nicotine. Phencyclidine (PCP) was used to model behavioral changes resembling negative symptoms of schizophrenia in rats. Ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) in rats have been used to...
Nicotine is a widely-abused drug, yet its primary reinforcing effect does not seem potent as other stimulants such as cocaine. Recent research on the contributing factors toward chronic use of nicotine-containing products has implicated the role of reinforcement-enhancing effects of nicotine. The present study investigates whether phencyclidine (PCP) may also possess a reinforcement-enhancement...