Contribution of impulsivity and novelty-seeking to the acquisition and maintenance of MDMA self-administration
Judith Bird, Susan Schenk
Addiction Biology July 11, 2012 DOI: 10.1111/j.1369-1600.2012.00477.x (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational cohort Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Rats |
| Intervention | MDMA self-administration |
| Dose | 1.0 mg/kg/infusion, 0.5 mg/kg/infusion, 5.0 mg/kg, 10.0 mg/kg |
| Topics | Addiction MDMA |
| Keywords | Impulsivity Novelty seeking Self-administration Clinical psychology |
| Citations | 39 |
| Key findings | Impulsivity, but not novelty-seeking, was significantly and positively correlated with the magnitude of MDMA-produced drug-seeking after withdrawal. |
Abstract
It has been suggested that the response to novelty and impulsivity predict the latency to acquisition and maintenance of drug self-administration, respectively. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between these two traits and (1) the latency to acquisition and (2) maintenance (drug-seeking) of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) self -administration. Impulsivity, measured as premature responding on the five-choice serial reaction time task (5-CSRTT), and novelty-seeking, measured as the locomotor response in a novel environment, were measured prior to self-administration. Latency to acquisition was determined as the number of test sessions required to self-administer an initial criterion of 90 infusions of 1.0 mg/kg/infusion, as well as an additional 150 infusions of 0.5 mg/kg/infusion MDMA. For some rats, the ability of MDMA [0, 5.0 or 10.0 mg/kg, intraperitoneal (IP)] to produce drug-seeking was subsequently measured, and for others, impulsivity was again measured following self-administration. Novelty-seeking was not significantly correlated with either the acquisition or drug-seeking measures of MDMA self-administration. Impulsivity was not significantly correlated with the latency to acquire self-administration of MDMA, but was significantly and positively correlated with the magnitude of MDMA-produced drug-seeking. Furthermore, MDMA self-administration produced a number of notable, but transient, deficits in the 5-CSRTT; there was an increase in omission rate and a delayed increase in premature responses in particular. These findings suggest that impulsivity, but not sensation seeking, might be a risk factor for the development of compulsive drug-seeking following withdrawal from MDMA self-administration.
Comparable studies
Other preclinical and animal studies on MDMA for addiction, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reinforcing Effects of MDMA (‘Ecstasy’) in Drug-Naive and Cocaine-Trained Rats Rats | 2001 | Experimental study | |
| Neurotoxic Effects of MDMA on Brain Serotonin Neurons: Evidence from Neurochemical and Radioligand Binding Studiesa Rats and rhesus monkeys | 1990 | Review | |
| Enhancement of conditioned place preference response to cocaine in rats following subchronic administration of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) Male Sprague-Dawley rats | 2000 | Experimental study | |
| Profile of MDMA Self-Administration from a Large Cohort of Rats: MDMA Develops a Profile of Dependence with Extended Testing Rats | 2012 | Observational cohort | n = 128 |
| Involvement of NMDA glutamate receptors in the acquisition and reinstatement of the conditioned place preference induced by MDMA Adolescent male mice | 2015 | Experimental study |