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Gancarz AM, Mitchell SH, George AM, Martin CD, Turk MC, Bool HM, Aktar F, Kwarteng F, Palmer AA, Meyer PJ, Richards JB, Dietz DM, Ishiwari K. Reward maximization assessed using a sequential patch depletion task in a large sample of heterogeneous stock rats. Sci Rep 2023; 13:7027. [PMID: 37120610 PMCID: PMC10148848 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-34179-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2023] [Accepted: 04/25/2023] [Indexed: 05/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Choice behavior requires animals to evaluate both short- and long-term advantages and disadvantages of all potential alternatives. Impulsive choice is traditionally measured in laboratory tasks by utilizing delay discounting (DD), a paradigm that offers a choice between a smaller immediate reward, or a larger more delayed reward. This study tested a large sample of Heterogeneous Stock (HS) male (n = 896) and female (n = 898) rats, part of a larger genetic study, to investigate whether measures of reward maximization overlapped with traditional models of delay discounting via the patch depletion model using a Sequential Patch Depletion procedure. In this task, rats were offered a concurrent choice between two water "patches" and could elect to "stay" in the current patch or "leave" for an alternative patch. Staying in the current patch resulted in decreasing subsequent reward magnitudes, whereas the choice to leave a patch was followed by a delay and a resetting to the maximum reward magnitude. Based on the delay in a given session, different visit durations were necessary to obtain the maximum number of rewards. Visit duration may be analogous to an indifference point in traditional DD tasks. Males and females did not significantly differ on traditional measures of DD (e.g. delay gradient; AUC). When examining measures of patch utilization, females made fewer patch changes at all delays and spent more time in the patch before leaving for the alternative patch compared to males. Consistent with this, there was some evidence that females deviated from reward maximization more than males. However, when controlling for body weight, females had a higher normalized rate of reinforcement than males. Measures of reward maximization were only weakly associated with traditional DD measures and may represent distinctive underlying processes. Taken together, females performance differed from males with regard to reward maximization that were not observed utilizing traditional measures of DD, suggesting that the patch depletion model was more sensitive to modest sex differences when compared to traditional DD measures in a large sample of HS rats.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amy M Gancarz
- Department of Psychology, California State University, Bakersfield, Bakersfield, CA, 93311, USA.
| | - Suzanne H Mitchell
- Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, 97239, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, 97239, USA
- Oregon Institute for Occupational Health Sciences, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, 97239, USA
| | - Anthony M George
- Clinical and Research Institute on Addictions, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, 14203, USA
| | - Connor D Martin
- Clinical and Research Institute on Addictions, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, 14203, USA
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, 14203, USA
| | - Marisa C Turk
- Clinical and Research Institute on Addictions, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, 14203, USA
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, 14203, USA
| | - Heather M Bool
- Clinical and Research Institute on Addictions, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, 14203, USA
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, 14203, USA
| | - Fahmida Aktar
- Clinical and Research Institute on Addictions, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, 14203, USA
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, 14203, USA
| | - Francis Kwarteng
- Clinical and Research Institute on Addictions, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, 14203, USA
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, 14203, USA
| | - Abraham A Palmer
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA
- Institute for Genomic Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA
| | - Paul J Meyer
- Department of Psychology, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, 14260, USA
| | - Jerry B Richards
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, 14203, USA
| | - David M Dietz
- Clinical and Research Institute on Addictions, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, 14203, USA
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, 14203, USA
| | - Keita Ishiwari
- Clinical and Research Institute on Addictions, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, 14203, USA.
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, 14203, USA.
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Maddern XJ, Walker LC, Campbell EJ, Arunogiri S, Haber PS, Morley K, Manning V, Millan EZ, McNally GP, Lubman DI, Lawrence AJ. Can we enhance the clinical efficacy of cognitive and psychological approaches to treat substance use disorders through understanding their neurobiological mechanisms? Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2022; 142:104899. [PMID: 36183863 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2022.104899] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/20/2022] [Revised: 09/26/2022] [Accepted: 09/27/2022] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Despite decades of research in the field of addiction, relapse rates for substance use disorders remain high. Consequently, there has been growing focus on providing evidence-based treatments for substance use disorders, resulting in the increased development and use of cognitive and psychological interventions. Such treatment approaches, including contingency management, community-reinforcement approach, and cognitive bias modification, have shown promising clinical efficacy in reducing substance use and promoting abstinence during treatment. However, these interventions are still somewhat limited in achieving sustained periods of abstinence post-treatment. The neurobiological mechanisms underpinning these treatment approaches remain largely unknown and under-studied, in part, due to a lack of translational animal models. The adoption of a reverse translational approach may assist in development of more representative models that can facilitate elucidation of the mechanisms behind these clinically relevant interventions. This review examines our current understanding of addiction neurobiology from clinical, preclinical research and existing animal models, and considers how the efficacy of such behavioral-oriented interventions alone, or in combination with pharmacotherapy, may be enhanced to improve treatment outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xavier J Maddern
- Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Parkville, VIC 3010, Australia; Florey Department of Neuroscience and Mental Health, University of Melbourne, VIC 3010, Australia.
| | - Leigh C Walker
- Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Parkville, VIC 3010, Australia; Florey Department of Neuroscience and Mental Health, University of Melbourne, VIC 3010, Australia
| | - Erin J Campbell
- Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Parkville, VIC 3010, Australia; Florey Department of Neuroscience and Mental Health, University of Melbourne, VIC 3010, Australia; School of Biomedical Sciences and Pharmacy, Faculty of Health and Medicine, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW, Australia; Brain Neuromodulation Research Program, Hunter Medical Research Institute, New Lambton Heights, NSW, Australia
| | - Shalini Arunogiri
- Monash Addiction Research Centre, Eastern Health Clinical School, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia; Turning Point, Eastern Health, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Paul S Haber
- Edith Collins Centre, Drug Health Services, Sydney Local Health District, Camperdown, Australia; Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Kirsten Morley
- Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Victoria Manning
- Monash Addiction Research Centre, Eastern Health Clinical School, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia; Turning Point, Eastern Health, Melbourne, Australia
| | | | | | - Dan I Lubman
- Monash Addiction Research Centre, Eastern Health Clinical School, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia; Turning Point, Eastern Health, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Andrew J Lawrence
- Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Parkville, VIC 3010, Australia; Florey Department of Neuroscience and Mental Health, University of Melbourne, VIC 3010, Australia.
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Yeates DCM, Leavitt D, Sujanthan S, Khan N, Alushaj D, Lee ACH, Ito R. Parallel ventral hippocampus-lateral septum pathways differentially regulate approach-avoidance conflict. Nat Commun 2022; 13:3349. [PMID: 35688838 PMCID: PMC9187740 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-31082-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2021] [Accepted: 06/01/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
The ability to resolve an approach-avoidance conflict is critical to adaptive behavior. The ventral CA3 (vCA3) and CA1 (vCA1) subfields of the ventral hippocampus (vHPC) have been shown to facilitate avoidance and approach behavior, respectively, in the face of motivational conflict, but the neural circuits by which this subfield-specific regulation is implemented is unknown. We demonstrate that two distinct pathways from these subfields to lateral septum (LS) contribute to this divergent control. In Long-Evans rats, chemogenetic inhibition of the vCA3- LS caudodorsal (cd) pathway potentiated approach towards a learned conflict-eliciting stimulus, while inhibition of the vCA1-LS rostroventral (rv) pathway potentiated approach non-specifically. Additionally, vCA3-LScd inhibited animals were less hesitant to explore food during environmental uncertainty, while the vCA1- LSrv inhibited animals took longer to initiate food exploration. These findings suggest that the vHPC influences multiple behavioral systems via differential projections to the LS, which in turn send inhibitory projections to motivational centres of the brain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dylan C M Yeates
- Department of Psychology (Scarborough), University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, M1C 1A4, Canada
| | - Dallas Leavitt
- Department of Psychology (Scarborough), University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, M1C 1A4, Canada
| | - Sajeevan Sujanthan
- Department of Psychology (Scarborough), University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, M1C 1A4, Canada
| | - Nisma Khan
- Department of Psychology (Scarborough), University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, M1C 1A4, Canada
| | - Denada Alushaj
- Department of Psychology (Scarborough), University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, M1C 1A4, Canada
| | - Andy C H Lee
- Department of Psychology (Scarborough), University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, M1C 1A4, Canada.,Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest Centre, Toronto, ON, M6A 2E1, Canada
| | - Rutsuko Ito
- Department of Psychology (Scarborough), University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, M1C 1A4, Canada. .,Department of Cell and Systems Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, M5S 3G5, Canada.
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Hamel L, Cavdaroglu B, Yeates D, Nguyen D, Riaz S, Patterson D, Khan N, Kirolos N, Roper K, Ha QA, Ito R. Cortico-Striatal Control over Adaptive Goal-Directed Responding Elicited by Cues Signaling Sucrose Reward or Punishment. J Neurosci 2022; 42:3811-3822. [PMID: 35351827 PMCID: PMC9087743 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.2175-21.2022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/21/2021] [Revised: 03/21/2022] [Accepted: 03/23/2022] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
The medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and nucleus accumbens (NAc) have been associated with the expression of adaptive and maladaptive behavior elicited by fear-related and drug-associated cues. However, reported effects of mPFC manipulations on cue-elicited natural reward-seeking and inhibition thereof have been varied, with few studies examining cortico-striatal contributions in tasks that require adaptive responding to cues signaling reward and punishment within the same session. The current study aimed to better elucidate the role of mPFC and NAc subdivisions, and their functional connectivity in cue-elicited adaptive responding using a novel discriminative cue responding task. Male Long-Evans rats learned to lever-press on a VR5 schedule for a discriminative cue signaling reward, and to avoid pressing the same lever in the presence of another cue signaling punishment. Postacquisition, prelimbic (PL) and infralimbic (IL) areas of the mPFC, NAc core, shell, PL-core, or IL-shell circuits were pharmacologically or chemogenetically inhibited while animals performed under (1) nonreinforced (extinction) conditions, where the appetitive and aversive cues were presented in alternating trials alone or as a compound stimulus; and (2) reinforced conditions, whereby cued responding was accompanied by associated outcomes. PL and IL inactivation attenuated nonreinforced and reinforced goal-directed cue responding, whereas NAc core and shell inactivation impaired nonreinforced responding for the appetitive, but not aversive cue. Furthermore, PL-core and IL-shell inhibition disinhibited nonreinforced but not reinforced cue responding. Our findings implicate the mPFC as a site of confluence of motivationally significant cues and outcomes, and in the regulation of nonreinforced cue responding via downstream NAc targets.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT The ability to discriminate and respond appropriately to environmental cues that signal availability of reward or punishment is essential for survival. The medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and nucleus accumbens (NAc) have been implicated in adaptive and maladaptive behavior elicited by fear-related and drug-associated cues. However, less is known about the role they play in orchestrating adaptive responses to natural reward and punishment cues within the same behavioral task. Here, using a novel discriminative cue responding task combined with pharmacological or chemogenetic inhibition of mPFC, NAc and mPFC-NAc circuits, we report that mPFC is critically involved in responding to changing cued response-outcomes, both when the responses are reinforced, and nonreinforced. Furthermore, the mPFC coordinates nonreinforced discriminative cue responding by suppressing inappropriate responding via downstream NAc targets.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laurie Hamel
- Department of Psychology (Scarborough), University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, M1C 1A4, Canada
| | - Bilgehan Cavdaroglu
- Department of Psychology (Scarborough), University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, M1C 1A4, Canada
| | - Dylan Yeates
- Department of Psychology (Scarborough), University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, M1C 1A4, Canada
| | - David Nguyen
- Department of Psychology (Scarborough), University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, M1C 1A4, Canada
| | - Sadia Riaz
- Department of Psychology (Scarborough), University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, M1C 1A4, Canada
| | - Dylan Patterson
- Department of Cell and Systems Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3G5 Canada
| | - Nisma Khan
- Department of Psychology (Scarborough), University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, M1C 1A4, Canada
| | - Nardin Kirolos
- Department of Psychology (Scarborough), University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, M1C 1A4, Canada
| | - Katherine Roper
- Department of Psychology (Scarborough), University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, M1C 1A4, Canada
| | - Quynh An Ha
- Department of Psychology (Scarborough), University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, M1C 1A4, Canada
| | - Rutsuko Ito
- Department of Psychology (Scarborough), University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, M1C 1A4, Canada
- Department of Cell and Systems Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3G5 Canada
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Pirino BE, Martin CR, Carpenter BA, Curtis GR, Curran-Alfaro CM, Samels SB, Barker JM, Karkhanis AN, Barson JR. Sex-related differences in pattern of ethanol drinking under the intermittent-access model and its impact on exploratory and anxiety-like behavior in Long-Evans rats. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 2022; 46:1282-1293. [PMID: 35491472 PMCID: PMC9357056 DOI: 10.1111/acer.14853] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/02/2022] [Revised: 04/22/2022] [Accepted: 04/26/2022] [Indexed: 01/21/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND While men in the United States consume more alcohol than women, rates of drinking are converging. Nevertheless, females remain underrepresented in preclinical alcohol research. Here, we examined rats' sex-related differences in patterns of ethanol (EtOH) drinking and the effects of this drinking on exploratory and anxiety-like behavior. METHODS Adult male and female Long-Evans rats were given 20% ethanol under the intermittent-access two-bottle-choice paradigm. Their intake was measured daily for the first 7 weeks. During the eighth week, intake was measured over the 24 h of daily access. During the ninth week, they, along with EtOH-naive controls, were tested prior to daily access in a novel chamber, light-dark box, and hole board apparatus. During the tenth week, blood ethanol concentration (BEC) was assessed after 30 to 40 min of access. RESULTS Females overall demonstrated higher ethanol intake and preference across all access weeks than males, although only half of females drank significantly more than males. Across 24 h of daily access, both sexes had their highest intake in the first 30 min and their lowest in the middle of the light phase of the light/dark cycle. Despite their greater ethanol intake, females did not show significantly different BECs than males. In behavioral tests, females showed less vertical time in a novel activity chamber, more movement between chambers in a light-dark box, and more nose pokes in a hole-board apparatus than males. While a history of ethanol drinking led to a trend for lower vertical time in the activity chamber and greater chamber entries in the light-dark box, the effects were not sex-dependent. CONCLUSIONS These results suggest that female and male rats could both be tested for acute effects of ethanol after 30 min of daily access, but that nuanced considerations are needed in the design of these experiments and the interpretation of their findings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Breanne E Pirino
- Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Cydney R Martin
- Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Brody A Carpenter
- Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Genevieve R Curtis
- Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Christina M Curran-Alfaro
- Department of Pharmacology and Physiology, Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Shanna B Samels
- Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Jacqueline M Barker
- Department of Pharmacology and Physiology, Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Anushree N Karkhanis
- Department of Psychology, Binghamton University - SUNY, Binghamton, New York, USA
| | - Jessica R Barson
- Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
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Quadir SG, Arleth GM, Jahad JV, Echeveste Sanchez M, Effinger DP, Herman MA. Sex differences in affective states and association with voluntary ethanol intake in Sprague-Dawley rats. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 2022; 239:589-604. [PMID: 35044485 DOI: 10.1007/s00213-021-06052-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2021] [Accepted: 12/27/2021] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
Abstract
Alcohol use disorders (AUDs) are a major problem across the USA. While AUD remains a complex human condition, it is difficult to isolate the directionality of anxiety and ethanol (EtOH) drinking from outside influences. The present study sought to investigate the relationship between affective states and EtOH intake using male and female Sprague-Dawley rats. Using complementary tests of anxiety- and depressive-like behavior, we found sex- and test-specific differences in basal affective behavior such that females displayed enhanced anxiety-like behavior in the splash test and males displayed enhanced anxiety-like behavior in the novelty-suppressed feeding test. Although, there were no sex differences in EtOH intake and no correlation between baseline anxiety-like behavior and subsequent EtOH intake, we did find that depressive-like behavior predicted future EtOH intake in female rats only. In addition, we observed an increase in depressive-like behavior is male rats in both the water and EtOH drinking groups (compared to baseline levels). Furthermore, post-drinking anxiety-like behavior, but not depressive-like behavior predicted subsequent EtOH intake in female rats. Lastly, we found a history of EtOH intake decreased pain thresholds in male and female rats, but increased anxiety-like and depressive-like behavior was associated with decreased thermal sensitivity only in EtOH-drinking males. Together, these experiments provide important information on the complex interaction between negative affect and EtOH intake and how these two contexts reciprocally do, or do not, influence each other in a sex-specific manner.
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Affiliation(s)
- S G Quadir
- Department of Pharmacology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
- Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
| | - G M Arleth
- Department of Pharmacology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
- Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
| | - J V Jahad
- Department of Pharmacology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
- Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
| | - M Echeveste Sanchez
- Department of Pharmacology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
- Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
| | - D P Effinger
- Department of Pharmacology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
- Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
| | - M A Herman
- Department of Pharmacology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA.
- Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA.
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