Rationale Preclinical studies indicate that gonadal hormones are important determinants of
drug self-administration. To date, little is known about the influence of sex and estrous cycle …

One of the most difficult problems in treating addiction is not withdrawing addicts from drugs,
but preventing relapse. Persistent neuroadaptations are thought to underlie aspects of …

The establishment of social hierarchies is a naturally occurring, evolutionarily conserved
phenomenon with a well-established impact on fitness and health. Investigations of complex …

In the young of many mammalian species, including humans, a vigorous and highly
rewarding social activity is abundantly expressed, known as social play behaviour. Social …

Positive reinforcement helps to control the acquisition of learned behaviours. Here we report
a cellular mechanism in the brain that may underlie the behavioural effects of positive …

An increasing emphasis has been placed on the development and use of animal models of
addiction that capture defining features of human drug addiction, including escalation/binge …

Social learning theory, as originally proposed by Albert Bandura, followed 2000 years of
intellectual inquiry into the determinants of human behavior. Reciprocal determinism is a …

Critical features of human addiction are increasingly being incorporated into complementary
animal models, including escalation of drug intake, punished drug seeking and taking …

Highlights•Substance-specificity in drug abuse is determined by environmental influences
unique to the individual.•Central and peripheral drug effects undergo emotional appraisal as …

When facing a choice between cocaine and a potent, albeit inessential, non‐drug alternative
(ie water sweetened with saccharin), most cocaine self‐administering rats abstain from …