Abstract
Sign- and goal-tracking are behaviors seen in many species when a conditioned stimulus and it's corresponding unconditioned stimulus are presented at separate locations, and have been the focus of studies on appetitive conditioned and drug dependence. The neurochemical basis of sign-tracking is of interest for both studies of basic conditioning and addiction. In this work, I examined the role of norepinephrine by employing two noradrenergic drugs used for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)-(a) atomoxetine, a norepinephrine reuptake blocker, and (b) guanfacine, an α2A-adrenergic receptor agonist. Sprague-Dawley rats were trained using a standard Pavlovian conditioning procedure with a retractable lever as conditioned stimulus and sucrose pellets as unconditioned stimulus. It was found that while atomoxetine reduced both sign- (both doses) and goal-tracking (only at the higher dose), guanfacine did not have any effect on either behavior. While norepinephrine reuptake blocking may be an effective strategy for reducing sign-tracking, manipulation of the α2A-adrenergic receptor appears less viable. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).
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