Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Date

2024

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

Department

Psychology

Committee Chair

Deranda Lester

Committee Member

icholas Simon

Committee Member

James Murphy

Abstract

The mesolimbic dopamine system plays a critical role in mediating reward-seeking and motivation, most researched in relation to drug reward. This study examined the relationship between aspects of phasic and tonic NAc dopamine release and behaviors related to social reward in C57Bl/6J mice. Social conditioned place preference (sCPP) was used to assess preference/aversion to chambers associated with social interaction, as well as the frequency/duration of social interactions during the conditioning days. Following sCPP, fixed potential amperometry was used to measure stimulation-evoked dopamine release in the NAc of anesthetized mice before and after an injection of cocaine (10 mg/kg, ip). We found that the relationships between social reward behaviors and dopamine release are sex dependent. In male mice, increased social preference and familiar social interactions were associated with decreased phasic dopaminergic responses to cocaine, while novel social interactions correlated with higher baseline tonic release and reduced tonic dopaminergic responses to cocaine.

Comments

Data is provided by the student.

Library Comment

Dissertation or thesis originally submitted to ProQuest.

Notes

Open Access

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