Social Interaction Promotes Nicotine Self-Administration with Olfactogustatory Cues in Adolescent Rats

Abstract

Cigarette smoking is a social behavior. Smoking is also accompanied by distinctive gustatory and olfactory stimulation. However, none of these factors affecting nicotine intake are modeled in existing preclinical studies. We report a novel model of adolescent nicotine self-administration (SA) in rats where licking on drinking spouts was used as the operant behavior to activate the concurrent delivery of nicotine (i.v.) and an appetitive olfactogustatory (OG) cue, and social interaction was required for stable SA. The operant chamber was divided by a panel that separated the SA rat and another rat serving as the demonstrator, who had free access to the OG cue but did not receive nicotine. Orofacial contacts were permitted by the divider. Conditioned taste aversion prevented solo rats to self-administer nicotine. However, stable nicotine (15-30 μg/kg, free base) SA was established in the presence of demonstrator rats with free access to the OG cue. Omitting the olfactory component of the cue prevented the acquisition of nicotine SA. Mecamylamine, a nicotinic antagonist, reduced licking behavior. Familiar peers were more effective demonstrators in facilitating the acquisition of nicotine SA than were unfamiliar rats. No sex difference in nicotine intake was found. These data indicate that the contingent OG cue is associated with the aversive property of nicotine that prevents subsequent drug intake. Social information encoded in olfaction not only permits the establishment of stable nicotine SA but also enhances nicotine intake. These findings implicate adolescent social interactions in promoting smoking behavior by surmounting the aversive property of nicotine.

The effects of social learning on the acquisition of cocaine self-administration

“…Finally, stimulus enhancement is a process by which one individual directs the attention of another to a specific stimulus in the environment that is associated with reinforcement. For example, rats acquire nicotine self-administration at a faster and greater rate in the presence of a demonstrator that is drinking a scented solution associated with nicotine reinforcement; however, this effect is abolished if the demonstrator is drinking a scented solution that is not associated with nicotine reinforcement (Chen et al, 2011). In the present study, cocaine-experienced rats emitted high levels of responding on the active response lever, which likely increased the salience of the active lever for their experimentally naïve partners.…”

Emergence of sex differences in the development of substance use and abuse during adolescence

“…In a study of nicotine self-administration in the presence of olfacto-gustatory clues, both males and females only self-administered nicotine when partnered with a peer that consumed the cue (but not the nicotine) (Chen, Sharp, Matta, & Wu, 2011). Both nicotine and cocaine also can enhance the rewarding value of peers in adolescents rats (Thiel, Okun, & Neisewander, 2008; Thiel, Sanabria, & Neisewander, 2009), although the influence of sex was not considered in these studies.…”

Individual Differences and Social Influences on the Neurobehavioral Pharmacology of Abused Drugs

“…Acquisition of nicotine self-administration paired with oral delivery of a sweet-scented solution is facilitated in male and female adolescent rats when a conspecific drinks the scented solution in an adjacent cage (Chen et al, 2011). In that experiment, the divider between the cages was perforated to allow the transfer of olfactory cues.…”