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Presentation 1: Reinforcer pathology, a recent development in the field of behavioral economics, specifies that (1) reinforcers are integrated over time, (2) that length of the window of integration can vary, and, in turn, (3) alter the valuation of different reinforcers. Short temporal windows of integration will tend to increase the value of intense, reliable and brief reinforcers such as drugs while leading to a decline in the value of reinforcers that are less intense, variable and accrue value over longer time frames such as prosocial reinforcers. Conversely, long temporal windows of integration should result in a reversal in the valuation of drug and prosocial reinforcers. Importantly, reinforcer pathology provides an understanding of the "anhedonia" that often occurs in the development of addiction and suggests a novel approach to treatment; namely, to increase the length of the temporal integration window. In this presentation, this model and data supporting it will be reviewed.
Presentation 2: The goal of my research is to model various forms of human drug addiction in animals, taking into account factors that increase or decrease addiction potential and severity such as sex, hormonal factors, impulsivity, sweet preference, and other genetic factors. My students, colleagues, and I have also developed self-sustaining treatments to reduce or eliminate incubation of craving and subsequent drug-seeking over long periods of time. My research has been involved in the development of novel methods of modeling drug addiction in rats and nonhuman primates, with self-administration of opioids, stimulants, alcohol, and with several routes of self-administration used by humans, such as intravenous, drinking (oral), and smoking. Behavioral economic methods and analyses of demand for drug self-administration and behavioral patterns have been compared in humans and nonhuman animals to better understand factors that increase and treatments that reduce demand for drugs. Recent work has focused on self-motivated novel treatments for drug addiction such offering concurrent, nondrug rewards like physical exercise that reduce initiation, acceleration of drug use, and prevent relapse. Self-motivated alternative behaviors, such as physical exercise, also reduce long-term drug craving. That is important because animal models indicate that craving continues for months after standard treatments end. Current studies are also extending these findings to prevention models and to models of binge eating and food addiction in animals.
Complete details, including abstract and learning objectives, can be found here.