Abstract
Impulsivity describes the tendency of an individual to act prematurely without foresight and is associated with a number of neuropsychiatric co-morbidities, including drug addiction. As such, there is increasing interest in the neurobiological mechanisms of impulsivity, as well as the genetic and environmental influences that govern the expression of this behaviour. Tests used on rodent models of impulsivity share strong parallels with tasks used to assess this trait in humans, and studies in both suggest a crucial role of monoaminergic corticostriatal systems in the expression of this behavioural trait. Furthermore, rodent models have enabled investigation of the causal relationship between drug abuse and impulsivity. Here, we review the use of rodent models of impulsivity for investigating the mechanisms involved in this trait, and how these mechanisms could contribute to the pathogenesis of addiction.
Highlights
Impulsivity is typically classified as a predisposition for premature, poorly planned, unduly risky or inappropriate actions (Daruma and Barnes, 1993)
In its extreme form, maladaptive impulsivity has been associated with a wide range of neuropsychiatric morbidities, including personality (Perry and Körner, 2011) and mood (Lombardo et al, 2012) disorder, drug abuse and addiction (Ersche et al, 2010), suicide (Dougherty et al, 2004), and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) (Avila et al, 2004)
In this Review, we discuss the use of rodent models of impulsivity, in relation to the endogenous expression of impulsive behaviour, for investigating the underlying mechanisms of this behaviour and its potential aetiological relationship as an endophenotype of the pathogenesis of addiction
Summary
The task begins following entry into the food magazine (panel 1), after which the left lever is introduced into the arena (panel 2) Responding on this lever introduces the right ‘reward’ lever, which, if depressed during a go trial (no tone), results in delivery of a food reward (panel 3). Pellet delivery (4 pellets) after delay action) This test requires subjects to perform a binary-choice reaction time task where they respond to one stimulus (e.g. a plain square) and must inhibit a response to a second stimulus (e.g. a patterned square). Other operant-based methods, the five-choice serial reaction time task (5CSRTT) (Fig. 1), which assays impulsive action based on premature responses for a food-predictive, brief light stimulus (Robbins, 2002), are widely used. In this Review, we discuss the use of rodent models of impulsivity, in relation to the endogenous expression of impulsive behaviour (referred to here as trait or trait-like impulsivity), for investigating the underlying mechanisms of this behaviour and its potential aetiological relationship as an endophenotype of the pathogenesis of addiction
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