A novel model of chronic sleep restriction reveals an increase in the perceived incentive reward value of cocaine in high drug-taking rats

Abstract

Substance abuse and sleep deprivation are major problems in our society. Clinical studies suggest that measures of poor sleep quality effectively predict relapse to substance abuse. Previously, our laboratory has shown that acute sleep deprivation increases the rate and efficiency (i.e., the goal-directed nature of responding) of cocaine self-administration using a progressive ratio (PR) schedule of reinforcement. However, the problem of sleep deprivation in our nation is largely one of chronicity. Therefore, the current study used a rodent model of chronic sleep restriction more akin to that experienced by humans (approximately 40% reduction in baseline sleep over the course of 8 days) to assess the impact of chronic sleep deprivation on cocaine-seeking and cocaine-taking behaviors in rats early during acquisition of self-administration. While low drug-taking rats were unaffected by chronic sleep restriction, high drug-takers in the chronic sleep restriction (CSR) group exhibited enhanced fixed ratio (FR) responding by the fourth day of FR training and significantly higher PR breakpoints than their non-sleep restriction (NSR) counterparts. This study is the first to directly assess the impact of chronic sleep deprivation on drug self-administration. These results show that chronic sleep deprivation early during acquisition of self-administration has a significant effect on the perceived incentive reward value of cocaine in high drug-takers, as indicated by both increased FR responding and an increased willingness to work for drug. Thus, it is important to be mindful of such factors in clinical settings designed for treatment of addiction and relapse prevention.

Prefrontal Cortex to Accumbens Projections in Sleep Regulation of Reward

“…In contrast to the potential reduction of motivation for food, our results suggest that the motivation for sucrose reward was selectively enhanced in the mice following acute SDe. This is also consistent with previous reports that acute SDe enhances motivation for a variety of natural, artificial, and drug rewards (Steiner and Ellman, 1972;Brower et al, 1998;Killgore et al, 2006;McKenna et al, 2007;Venkatraman et al, 2007Venkatraman et al, , 2011Puhl et al, 2009Puhl et al, , 2013Gujar et al, 2011;Greer et al, 2013;Telzer et al, 2013).…”

“…In both humans and experimental animals, sleep is a prominent factor regulating reward processing of the brain. Following acute sleep deprivation (SDe), amplified positive emotion and enhanced motivation for reward have been consistently observed across multiple modalities, including high-calorie food wanting, monetary reward seeking and risk taking, drug and alcohol intake, and intracranial self-stimulations (Steiner and Ellman, 1972;Brower et al, 1998;Killgore et al, 2006;McKenna et al, 2007;Venkatraman et al, 2007Venkatraman et al, , 2011Puhl et al, 2009Puhl et al, , 2013Gujar et al, 2011;Greer et al, 2013;Telzer et al, 2013). On the bright side, SDe has been used as a fast-acting alternative treatment for the broadly defined depressive syndrome (Giedke and Schwärzler, 2002;Hemmeter et al, 2010;Dallaspezia and Benedetti, 2015).…”

Assessment of individual differences in the rat nucleus accumbens transcriptome following taste-heroin extended access

“…Testing was conducted in 12 self-administration chambers as previously described [32]. Each operant chamber was equipped with three retractable sipper tubes that entered the chamber through three holes.…”

Biobehavioral effects produced by paternal sleep disturbances

“…For group C, sleep restriction occurred in four 4‐day cycles, with two recovery days occurring between each cycle. Both sleep restriction groups were deprived of approximately 25% of their daily sleep, approximately evenly distributed across a 24 h period . Rats in the control group were allowed to sleep normally in plastic cages placed beside the sleep deprivation apparatus.…”