Premium
Trait and state variables associated with social rank and cocaine abuse in female cynomolgus monkeys
Author(s) -
Riddick Natallia V.,
Czoty Paul W.,
Kaplan Jay R.,
Gage H. Don,
Icenhower Michelle,
Nader Michael A.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.22.1_supplement.719.9
Subject(s) - psychology , neurochemical , trait , affect (linguistics) , addiction , substance abuse , endocrinology , developmental psychology , medicine , biology , psychiatry , neuroscience , computer science , programming language , communication
Social rank has been shown to affect susceptibility to many diseases including drug addiction. In the present studies we examined several behavioral and neurochemical markers as possible predictors of eventual social rank (i.e. trait variables) in 16 female cynomolgus monkeys and assessed whether these markers changed after social housing (i.e., state variables). Body weight, cortisol levels and locomotor activity did not predict social rank. In contrast, eventual subordinate monkeys were more impulsive as shown by lower latencies to approach a novel object in the home cage and had significantly higher levels of cerebrospinal fluid serotonin (5‐HT), but not dopamine (DA), metabolites (5‐HIAA and HVA, respectively). Using positron emission tomography, neither 5‐HT transporter nor DA D2 receptor availability was predictive of eventual social rank. However, as was observed in earlier studies with male monkeys, D2 receptor availability increased in monkeys that became dominant. Low D2 receptor availability and low social rank have been associated with heightened vulnerability to reinforcing effects of cocaine (Morgan et al. 2002; Nader et al. 2006); this association is currently being investigated. DA017763.