Accumbens Cholinergic Interneurons Mediate Cue-Induced Nicotine Seeking and Associated Glutamatergic Plasticity

Nicotine, the primary addictive substance in tobacco, is widely abused. Relapse to cues associated with nicotine results in increased glutamate release within nucleus accumbens core (NAcore), modifying synaptic plasticity of medium spiny neurons (MSNs), which contributes to reinstatement of nicotine seeking. However, the role of cholinergic interneurons (ChIs) within the NAcore in mediating these neurobehavioral processes is unknown. ChIs represent less than 1% of the accumbens neuronal population and are activated during drug seeking and reward-predicting events. Thus, we hypothesized that ChIs may play a significant role in mediating glutamatergic plasticity that underlies nicotine-seeking behavior. Using chemogenetics in transgenic rats expressing Cre under the control of the choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) promoter, ChIs were bidirectionally manipulated before cue-induced reinstatement. Following nicotine self-administration and extinction, ChIs were activated or inhibited before a cue reinstatement session. Following reinstatement, whole-cell electrophysiology from NAcore MSNs was used to assess changes in plasticity, measured via AMPA/NMDA (A/N) ratios. Chemogenetic inhibition of ChIs inhibited cued nicotine seeking and resulted in decreased A/N, relative to control animals, whereas activation of ChIs was unaltered, demonstrating that ChI inhibition may modulate plasticity underlying cue-induced nicotine seeking. These results demonstrate that ChI neurons play an important role in mediating cue-induced nicotine reinstatement and underlying synaptic plasticity within the NAcore

ARTICLE Word learning in the absence of a speaker

LANGUAG

Does father warmth/involvement predict intergenerational teenage pregnancy and adolescent risky sexual behavior?

Previous studies highlight many disadvantages for adolescent mothers who experience an early pregnancy. Among these disadvantages is the high probability of single-parenthood and the likelihood that their children may experience early pregnancies as well, i.e., intergenerational teenage pregnancy. The implications of the Balance Theory suggest that the primary source of warmth for adolescent girls comes from their fathers. Adolescent girls who grow up in father-absent homes may seek this missing warmth outside of the home in intimate sexual relationships. Using data from the Mobile Youth and Poverty Study (MYPS), single mothers who reported giving birth between the ages of 12-19 and their 15-year-old daughters were chosen for the current study. It was hypothesized that adolescent girls in father-absent homes would be more likely to experience an adolescent pregnancy and engage in more risky sexual behavior. Although a small portion of the sample actually experienced an early pregnancy (n=19), levels of father warmth significantly predicted whether adolescent girls had initiated sexual intercourse by age 15 as well as frequency and recency of the sexual intercourse. (Published By University of Alabama Libraries

Does father warmth/involvement predict intergenerational teenage pregnancy and adolescent risky sexual behavior?

Previous studies highlight many disadvantages for adolescent mothers who experience an early pregnancy. Among these disadvantages is the high probability of single-parenthood and the likelihood that their children may experience early pregnancies as well, i.e., intergenerational teenage pregnancy. The implications of the Balance Theory suggest that the primary source of warmth for adolescent girls comes from their fathers. Adolescent girls who grow up in father-absent homes may seek this missing warmth outside of the home in intimate sexual relationships. Using data from the Mobile Youth and Poverty Study (MYPS), single mothers who reported giving birth between the ages of 12-19 and their 15-year-old daughters were chosen for the current study. It was hypothesized that adolescent girls in father-absent homes would be more likely to experience an adolescent pregnancy and engage in more risky sexual behavior. Although a small portion of the sample actually experienced an early pregnancy (n=19), levels of father warmth significantly predicted whether adolescent girls had initiated sexual intercourse by age 15 as well as frequency and recency of the sexual intercourse. (Published By University of Alabama Libraries

The consequences of reversing trust or not reversing trust

Young children often rely on the testimony of others. However, children tend to be selective about which sources they trust. For example, some children will reverse trust when a trusted speaker proves unreliable, suggesting that 4-year-olds use a speaker's current testimony to help make decisions about the trustworthiness of that speaker's past testimony (Scofield & Behrend, 2008). The current study was designed to determine why some children are able to reverse trust and why some are not. The results indicated that trust reversers tended to believe that the unreliable speaker was no longer trustworthy. The results also indicated that trust non-reversers varied by age, with 3-year-olds tending to believe that the unreliable speaker was trustworthy and 4- and 5-year-olds tending to believe that the unreliable speaker was no longer trustworthy, though they did have difficulty correcting past misinformation. Overall, results suggested that most children believe that an unreliable speaker is no longer trustworthy for new information. (Published By University of Alabama Libraries

Individual differences in rural children's video word learning

Abstract The following study examined the possible relationship between young children's ability to learn words from videos and individual difference factors such as their previous experience with videos, location (i.e. rural vs. non-rural), household income, maternal education, and receptive language skills. Preschool-aged children between the ages of 3 and 5 years and their parent or guardian were recruited from two vastly different populations, one rural and one non-rural. The parent completed a demographic form including questions about education and income along with a survey detailing their child's regular exposure to screen media. Children subsequently completed two tasks: the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-III and a basic video word learning task. Findings indicate that children from the two populations were dramatically different on all individual difference factors but that both populations were similarly successful at video word learning and that none of the individual differences predicted performance on the video word learning task. (Published By University of Alabama Libraries