BACKGROUND We aimed to demonstrate a pharmacologically stimulated endogenous opioid release in the living human brain by evaluating the effects of amphetamine administration on [(11)C]carfentanil binding with positron emission tomography (PET). METHODS Twelve healthy male volunteers underwent [(11)C]carfentanil PET before and 3 hours after a single oral dose of d-amphetamine (either a "high" ...

of the Dissertation.....................................................................ii Acknowledgments.........................................................................................................iv List of Figures................................................................................................................x Introduction.............................................

BACKGROUND Laboratory experiments conducted since the 1940s show that amphetamine combined with task-relevant experience improves postbrain injury behavioral outcomes. Several small clinical trials evaluated the approach as a means of improving poststroke recovery. RESULTS In laboratory studies, the effect of amphetamine on recovery depends on the location and extent of brain injury, the dosi...

Use of amphetamine and methamphetamine is widespread in the general population and common among patients with psychiatric disorders. Amphetamines may induce symptoms of psychosis very similar to those of acute schizophrenia spectrum psychosis. This has been an argument for using amphetamine-induced psychosis as a model for primary psychotic disorders. To distinguish the two types of psychosis o...

Please be advised that this information was generated on 2016-05-01 and may be subject to change. A bstract Previous studies have shown that stressors at­ tenuate LiCl-induced conditioned taste aversions (CTA) but not morphine-induced CTA. The current studies ex­ amined the effects of footshock on the acquisition and extinction of amphetamine-induced CTA. Experiment 1 demonstrated that exposure...

Amphetamine use is associated with dysphoric states, including heightened anxiety, that emerge within 24h of withdrawal from the drug. Corticotropin-releasing factor increases serotonin release in the central nucleus of the amygdala, and this neurochemical circuitry may play a role in mediating fear and anxiety states. We have previously shown that chronic amphetamine treatment increases cortic...

Previous research using outbred rats indicates that individual differences in activity in a novel environment predict sensitivity to the reinforcing effect of psychostimulant drugs. The current study examined if the link between responses related to novelty and amphetamine self-administration is heritable. Twelve inbred rat strains were assessed for locomotor activity in a novel environment, pr...

Studies in laboratory rodents suggest that previously neutral stimuli repeatedly paired with the administration of drugs of abuse can acquire the ability to increase striatal dopamine release. This conditioned neurochemical response is believed to prompt drug seeking in animals and has been hypothesized to contribute to drug craving and relapse in substance abusers. In the present study, we use...

Fragments of beta-endorphin and amphetamine cause similar effects in some tests of maze behavior in rats. The present study served to compare the influence of amphetamine and two beta-endorphin fragments [beta-endorphin (beta E)-(2-9) and beta E-(2-16)] on maze behavior in more detail. In Experiment I no significant effects of amphetamine and the peptides on behavioral performance in three sele...

The stimulant drug amphetamine is postulated to enhance dopamine release through the plasmalemmal dopamine transporter by an exchange diffusion with synaptosomal dopamine. Because protein kinase C has been shown to have an effect on dopamine transporter activity, we examined the effect of protein kinase C inhibitors on endogenous dopamine release stimulated by amphetamine in perfused rat striat...