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Behavioral characterization of adult male and female rhesus monkeys exposed to cocaine throughout gestation

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Abstract

Rationale

In utero cocaine exposure has been associated with alterations in the dopamine (DA) system in monkeys. However, the behavioral outcomes of prenatal cocaine exposure in adulthood are poorly understood.

Objectives

To assess several behavioral measures in 14-year-old rhesus monkeys exposed to cocaine in utero and controls (n = 10 per group).

Materials and methods

For these studies, two unconditioned behavioral tasks, novel object reactivity and locomotor activity, and two conditioned behavioral tasks, response extinction and delay discounting, were examined. In addition, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples were analyzed for concentrations of the monoamine metabolites homovanillic acid (HVA) and 5-hydroxyindole acetic acid (5-HIAA).

Results

No differences in CSF concentrations of 5-HIAA and HVA, latencies to touch a novel object or locomotor activity measures were observed between groups or sexes. However, prenatally cocaine-exposed monkeys required a significantly greater number of sessions to reach criteria for extinction of food-reinforced behavior than control monkeys. On the delay-discounting task, male prenatally cocaine-exposed monkeys switched preference from the larger reinforcer to the smaller one at shorter delay values than male control monkeys; no differences were observed in females.

Conclusions

These findings suggest that prenatal cocaine exposure results in long-term neurobehavioral deficits that are influenced by sex of the individual.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse grants R01 DA25120, R37 DA10584, and K31 DA024485. The authors report no conflict of interest and would like to acknowledge the excellent technical assistance of Tonya Calhoun and Whitney Wilson. The authors also thank Dr. William Woolverton for advice regarding delay discounting, Dr. Merle Paule for providing information related to the histories of these monkeys and Dr. Peter Pierre for use of the locomotor activity field.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, 546 NRC, Medical Center Blvd, Winston-Salem, NC, 27157-1083, USA

    Lindsey R. Hamilton, Paul W. Czoty & Michael A. Nader

  2. Department of Radiology, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC, USA

    Michael A. Nader

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  1. Lindsey R. Hamilton
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  2. Paul W. Czoty
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Correspondence to Michael A. Nader.

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Hamilton, L.R., Czoty, P.W. & Nader, M.A. Behavioral characterization of adult male and female rhesus monkeys exposed to cocaine throughout gestation. Psychopharmacology 213, 799–808 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-010-2038-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-010-2038-x

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