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Rats with different profiles of impulsive choice behavior exhibit differences in responses to caffeine and d-amphetamine and in medial prefrontal cortex 5-HT utilization.

Barbelivien A, Billy E, Lazarus C, Kelche C, Majchrzak M

Laboratoire d'Imagerie et de Neurosciences Cognitives, UMR 7191, ULP/CNRS, IFR 37 de Neurosciences, Strasbourg, France. alexandra.barbelivien@linc.u-strasbg.fr

This study investigated if sub-populations of rats characterized by their basal level of impulsivity (BLI) in a delayed-reinforcement task, displayed differences in the functioning of neurotransmitter systems modulating impulsive choice behavior. For this, the effects of various doses of caffeine and d-amphetamine were investigated in three sub-populations of rats displaying pronounced differences in their impulsive choice behavior and their post-mortem serotonergic and dopaminergic functions were assessed. Caffeine and d-amphetamine reduce impulsive choice behavior only in the Medium BLI sub-population. Dopamine utilization was similar in the three sub-populations, but serotonin utilization was lower in the prefrontal cortex of the Medium and Very high BLI sub-populations as compared to the low BLI one. These results suggest that anti-impulsive effects of caffeine and d-amphetamine are dependent on the BLI of rats and that a low serotonergic function in the prefrontal cortex may be a trait marker of impulsivity evaluated by impulsive choice behavior.

Published 18 January 2008 in Behav Brain Res, 187(2): 273-83.
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