PREFRONTAL CONTROL OF SOCIAL BEHAVIOR IN NON HUMAN PRIMATES

Emory University, Atlanta GA

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Abstract

Cocaine abuse continues at an epidemic level with significant costs to society, yet no medication for cocaine abuse has demonstrated effectiveness for long-term use. The current project utilized a nonhuman primate model of drug self-administration in conjunction with in vivo microdialysis to study the neurochemical effects of cocaine. Marked elevations in dopamine were observed during drug-seeking behavior prior to drug delivery, demonstrating the importance of behavioral and environmental influences on brain chemistry during drug use. Moreover, the potent and selective dopamine transporter inhibitor, RTI-113, effectively reduced cocaine self-administration while exhibiting a profile of behavioral effects that is desirable for a substitute medication. These promising results suggest that the dopamine transporter is a potentially useful target in the pharmacological treatment of cocaine abuse. FUNDING Yerkes / Venture Funding $20,000 1/01/98 - 12/31/99 PUBLICATIONS *Czoty, P.W., Justice, J.B. and Howell, L.L. Cocaine-induced changes in extracellular dopamine determined by microdialysis in awake squirrel monkeys. Psychopharmacology (In press). P51RR00165-38 1/1/98 - 12/31/98 Yerkes Regional Primate Research Center