ArticlesThe Effects of Thalamic Paraventricular Nucleus Lesions on Cocaine-Induced Locomotor Activity and Sensitization
Section snippets
Subjects
Adult male Sprague–Dawley rats (CAMM, Wayne, NJ) were group housed under temperature- and humidity-controlled conditions on a 12 L:12 D schedule (lights on at 07 00 h). Food and water were available ad lib. The studies reported were carried out in accordance with the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals as adopted and promulgated by the National Institute of Health.
Surgery
Rats were randomly assigned to undergo either electrolytic lesions of the PV (n = 16) or sham lesions (n = 12). Rats
Baseline Ambulation
PV lesions did not alter baseline locomotor activity relative to sham-lesioned rats, nor did activity levels in vehicle-injected lesioned rats differ from those seen in vehicle-injected sham-lesioned rats on any of the test days (Fig. 1).
Cocaine-Elicited Locomotor Activity
PV-lesioned rats showed a significantly greater increase in activity on the first day of cocaine administration than did sham-lesioned rats administered cocaine, F(1, 13) = 8.07, p = 0.01 (see Fig. 1). However, cocaine-elicited activity levels in the
Discussion
Baseline locomotor activity was not affected by lesions of the PV, but PV-lesioned rats were significantly more responsive to acute cocaine administration. Despite the greater sensitivity to cocaine on day 1, activity levels in PV-lesioned rats did not progressively augment with daily cocaine injections. Similarly, PV-lesioned rats did not exhibit significant contextual conditioning to the locomotor apparatus. These data suggest that the PV may be an important site in the extended circuitry
Acknowledgements
We appreciate the generous equipment loan and assistance of Drs. Bryan Horger and Jane Taylor. This work was supported in part by MH-45124.
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2017, Progress in Brain ResearchCitation Excerpt :Indeed, more recent studies have identified important roles for the PVT in various behavioral features of drug addiction. Early work showed that the PVT was important for locomotor responses to cocaine because electrolytic PVT lesions increased the acute locomotor responses to cocaine and prevented locomotor sensitization (Young and Deutch, 1998). There has been relatively little investigation of the role of the PVT in self-administration behavior and the available evidence is conflicting.