Conteúdo indexado
Impulsive choice, alcohol consumption, and pre‐exposure to delayed rewards: II. Potential mechanisms
2015 · Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, v. 103, n. 1, p. 33-49
Dados principais
- Ano de publicação
- 2015
- Dados editoriais
- Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, v. 103, n. 1, p. 33-49
- DOI
- 10.1002/jeab.116
Autores
- Jeffrey S. Stein
- C. Renee Renda
- Jay E. Hinnenkamp
- Gregory J. Madden
Resumo
Abstract In a prior study (Stein et al., 2013), we reported that rats pre‐exposed to delayed rewards made fewer impulsive choices, but consumed more alcohol (12% wt/vol), than rats pre‐exposed to immediate rewards. To understand the mechanisms that produced these findings, we again pre‐exposed rats to either delayed (17.5 s; n = 32) or immediate ( n = 30) rewards. In posttests, delay‐exposed rats made significantly fewer impulsive choices at 15‐ and 30‐s delays to a larger, later food reward than the immediacy‐exposed comparison group. Behavior in an open‐field test provided little evidence of differential stress exposure between groups. Further, consumption of either 12% alcohol or isocaloric sucrose in subsequent tests did not differ between groups. Because Stein et al. introduced alcohol concentration gradually (3–12%), we speculate that their group differences in 12% alcohol consumption were not determined by alcohol's pharmacological effects, but by another variable (e.g., taste) that was preserved as an artifact from lower concentrations. We conclude that pre‐exposure to delayed rewards generalizes beyond the pre‐exposure delay; however, this same experimental variable does not robustly influence alcohol consumption.