Tail pinch facilitation of self-stimulation in the rat-Dependence upon dopamine and independence of opiates

Abstract

We have previously demonstrated that adult male Sprague-Dawley rats which are chronically maintained upon a schedule of intracranial reward (ICS) show elevated rates of response after a mild tail pinch. Both dopamine and opiates have been implicated in the mediation of other stress induced behavioral alterations, and may therefore also possibly be involved in the ICS effect. The present report replicated the initial finding of tail pinch induced facilitation of ICS, and further demonstrated that while opiate blockade failed to affect the ICS response dopaminergic blockage in fact inhibited it. These findings suggest neuropharmacological specificity for stress related behavioral change, and further implicate dopamine in stress responses.

Differential role of dopamine D3 receptor through balanced modulation of Akt/mTOR and ERK1/2 activity in the reactivation of cocaine rewarding memories evoked by psychological versus physiological stress

“…Additionally, the neurocircuitries integrating the response to each kind of stress has been reported to be different [35]. The effects of tail pinch have been shown to be mediated by dopaminergic and orexinergic neurotransmission systems and to influence cognitive processes [36][37][38][39].…”

“…Additionally, the neurocircuitries integrating the response to each kind of stress has been reported to be different [35]. The effects of tail pinch have been shown to be mediated by dopaminergic and orexinergic neurotransmission systems and to influence cognitive processes [36–39]. Nevertheless, these effects have been reported to be integrated in the ventral hippocampus and medial amygdala [38, 40], which might explain the lack of activity observed in the DG and BLA during the reinstatement of cocaine-CPP induced by this stressor.…”

Tail pinch vs. cervical probing: Opposite effects upon intracranial reinforcement in female rats

“…The present experiments were designed to further test this model, using brain stimulated reinforcement as a dependent variable of interest. We have previously demonstrated brain stimulation in male rats to be responsive to tail pinch (Katz & Roth, 1979), and this is mediated through DA (Katz, Roth, & Schmaltz, 1980). The present experiments examined tail pinch and cervical probing upon ICS in female rats.…”

“…For Experiment I, the tail-pinch procedure was administered in accordance with previous descriptions (Katz & Roth, 1979;Katz et al. 1980).…”

Context gives meaning. Commentary on Badiani and Robinson Drug-induced neurobehavioral plasticity: the role of environmental context

“…Context modulates the behavioural response to tail-pinch in that the response is influenced by the sort of stimuli present in the environment, by the rat's physiological and motivational state, and by the animal's experiential history (Szechtman, 1980). For instance, tail-pinch behaviour takes the form of eating when food pellets are available Levine & Morley, 1981) but turns into gnawing in the presence of wooden blocks (Koob et al, 1976) or maternal behaviour when there are rat pups in the vicinity (Sherman, 1972;Szechtman et al, 1977) or increased bar-pressing for brain stimulation when there exists the opportunity to obtain rewarding brain stimulation (Katz et al, 1980); however, tail-pinch does not induce drinking of water (Antelman et al, 1976;Mufson et al, 1976;Marques et al, 1979) and rarely rearing or grooming (Picone & Hall, 1979;Szechtman & Hall, 1980;Szechtman, 1980), suggesting some specificity to the tail-pinch stimulus. Motivational states also influence the response to tail-pinch.…”