Abstract
Nicotine and ethanol are 2 commonly used and abused drugs that have divergent effects on learning. The present study examined the effects of acute nicotine (0.25 mg/kg), ethanol (1.0 g/kg), and ethanol-nicotine coadministration on fear conditioning in C57BL/6 mice. Mice were assessed for contextual and cued fear conditioning at 1 day and 1 week posttraining. Ethanol disrupted acquisition but not consolidation of contextual fear conditioning; nicotine enhanced contextual fear conditioning and ameliorated ethanol-associated deficits in contextual fear conditioning. Mecamylamine antagonized this effect. Fear conditioning was reassessed 1 week after initial testing with no drug administered. At the 1-week retest, mice previously treated with nicotine continued to show enhanced contextual fear, and mice previously treated with ethanol continued to show contextual fear deficits. Thus, nicotine both produces a long-lasting enhancement of contextual fear conditioning and protects against ethanol-associated deficits.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1276-1282 |
| Number of pages | 7 |
| Journal | Behavioral Neuroscience |
| Volume | 117 |
| Issue number | 6 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Dec 1 2003 |
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All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Behavioral Neuroscience
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Nicotine Enhances Contextual Fear Conditioning and Ameliorates Ethanol-Induced Deficits in Contextual Fear Conditioning. / Gould, Thomas J.; Lommock, Joel A.
In: Behavioral Neuroscience, Vol. 117, No. 6, 01.12.2003, p. 1276-1282.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
TY - JOUR
T1 - Nicotine Enhances Contextual Fear Conditioning and Ameliorates Ethanol-Induced Deficits in Contextual Fear Conditioning
AU - Gould, Thomas J.
AU - Lommock, Joel A.
PY - 2003/12/1
Y1 - 2003/12/1
N2 - Nicotine and ethanol are 2 commonly used and abused drugs that have divergent effects on learning. The present study examined the effects of acute nicotine (0.25 mg/kg), ethanol (1.0 g/kg), and ethanol-nicotine coadministration on fear conditioning in C57BL/6 mice. Mice were assessed for contextual and cued fear conditioning at 1 day and 1 week posttraining. Ethanol disrupted acquisition but not consolidation of contextual fear conditioning; nicotine enhanced contextual fear conditioning and ameliorated ethanol-associated deficits in contextual fear conditioning. Mecamylamine antagonized this effect. Fear conditioning was reassessed 1 week after initial testing with no drug administered. At the 1-week retest, mice previously treated with nicotine continued to show enhanced contextual fear, and mice previously treated with ethanol continued to show contextual fear deficits. Thus, nicotine both produces a long-lasting enhancement of contextual fear conditioning and protects against ethanol-associated deficits.
AB - Nicotine and ethanol are 2 commonly used and abused drugs that have divergent effects on learning. The present study examined the effects of acute nicotine (0.25 mg/kg), ethanol (1.0 g/kg), and ethanol-nicotine coadministration on fear conditioning in C57BL/6 mice. Mice were assessed for contextual and cued fear conditioning at 1 day and 1 week posttraining. Ethanol disrupted acquisition but not consolidation of contextual fear conditioning; nicotine enhanced contextual fear conditioning and ameliorated ethanol-associated deficits in contextual fear conditioning. Mecamylamine antagonized this effect. Fear conditioning was reassessed 1 week after initial testing with no drug administered. At the 1-week retest, mice previously treated with nicotine continued to show enhanced contextual fear, and mice previously treated with ethanol continued to show contextual fear deficits. Thus, nicotine both produces a long-lasting enhancement of contextual fear conditioning and protects against ethanol-associated deficits.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0346365428&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=0346365428&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1037/0735-7044.117.6.1276
DO - 10.1037/0735-7044.117.6.1276
M3 - Article
C2 - 14674846
AN - SCOPUS:0346365428
VL - 117
SP - 1276
EP - 1282
JO - Behavioral Neuroscience
JF - Behavioral Neuroscience
SN - 0735-7044
IS - 6
ER -