Operant sensation seeking requires metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 (mGluR5). PLoS One 2010 Nov 30;5(11):e15085
Date
12/15/2010Pubmed ID
21152045Pubmed Central ID
PMC2994905DOI
10.1371/journal.pone.0015085Scopus ID
2-s2.0-78649785280 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 40 CitationsAbstract
Pharmacological and genetic studies have suggested that the metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 (mGluR5) is critically involved in mediating the reinforcing effects of drugs of abuse, but not food. The purpose of this study was to use mGluR5 knockout (KO), heterozygous (Het), and wildtype (WT) mice to determine if mGluR5 modulates operant sensation seeking (OSS), an operant task that uses varied sensory stimuli as a reinforcer. We found that mGluR5 KO mice had significantly reduced OSS responding relative to WT mice, while Het mice displayed a paradoxical increase in OSS responding. Neither KO nor Het mice exhibited altered operant responding for food as a reinforcer. Further, we assessed mGluR5 KO, Het and WT mice across a battery of cocaine locomotor, place preference and anxiety related tests. Although KO mice showed expected differences in some locomotor and anxiety measures, Het mice either exhibited no phenotype or an intermediate one. In total, these data demonstrate a key role for mGluR5 in OSS, indicating an important role for this receptor in reinforcement-based behavior.
Author List
Olsen CM, Childs DS, Stanwood GD, Winder DGAuthor
Christopher M. Olsen PhD Associate Professor in the Pharmacology and Toxicology department at Medical College of WisconsinMESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
AnimalsCocaine
Conditioning, Operant
Female
Genotype
Male
Maze Learning
Mice
Mice, Inbred C57BL
Mice, Knockout
Motor Activity
Receptor, Metabotropic Glutamate 5
Receptors, Metabotropic Glutamate
Self Administration
Sensation
Vasoconstrictor Agents
