title: Effects of acute pramipexole on preference for gambling-like schedules of reinforcement in rats.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Pramipexole and other direct dopamine agonist medications have been implicated in the development of impulsive behavior such as pathological gambling among those taking the drug to control symptoms of Parkinson's disease or restless leg syndrome. Few laboratory studies examining pramipexole's effects on gambling-like behavior have been conducted.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The present study used a rodent model approximating some aspects of human gambling to examine within-subject effects of acute pramipexole (0.03, 0.1, 0.18, and 0.3 mg/kg) on rat's choices to earn food reinforcement by completing variable-ratio (VR; i.e., gambling-like) or fixed-ratio (FR) response requirements.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In a condition in which the VR alternative was rarely selected, all but the lowest dose of pramipexole significantly increased choice of the VR alternative (an average of 15% above saline). The same doses did not affect choice significantly in a control condition designed to evaluate the involvement of nonspecific drug effects. Pramipexole increased latencies to initiate trials (+9.12 s) and to begin response runs on forced-choice trials (VR = +0.21 s; FR = +0.88 s), but did not affect measures of response perseveration (conditional probabilities of "staying").
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The findings are consistent with clinical reports linking pramipexole to the expression of increased gambling in humans. Results are discussed in the context of neurobehavioral evidence suggesting that dopamine agonists increase sensitivity to reward delay and disrupt appropriate feedback from negative outcomes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Behavioral Science, University of Kansas, 1000 Sunnyside Avenue, Lawrence, KS 66045, USA. pastejohn@ku.edu
authors.forename: Patrick S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: Gregory J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Madden
authors.forename: Adam T
authors.initials: AT
authors.lastname: Brewer
authors.forename: Jonathan W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Pinkston
authors.forename: Stephen C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Fowler
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D052160:Benzothiazoles / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002755:Choice Behavior / Q000187:drug effects*; D003216:Conditioning, Operant / Q000187:drug effects; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D018491:Dopamine Agonists / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D005715:Gambling / Q000188:drug therapy*; D008297:Male; D000077487:Pramipexole; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D012055:Reinforcement Schedule
chemical_list: D052160:Benzothiazoles; D018491:Dopamine Agonists; D000077487:Pramipexole
references.citation: Eur J Pharmacol. 2009 Aug 15;616(1-3):134-40
references.pmid: 19549514
references.citation: Science. 2007 Nov 23;318(5854):1309-12
references.pmid: 17962524
references.citation: J Exp Anal Behav. 1996 Nov;66(3):283-95
references.pmid: 8921612
references.citation: Sleep. 2010 Jan;33(1):81-7
references.pmid: 20120624
references.citation: J Psychopharmacol. 2007 Jul;21(5):501-6
references.pmid: 17446202
references.citation: J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 2009 Apr;329(1):210-7
references.pmid: 19136638
references.citation: Parkinsonism Relat Disord. 2005 Sep;11(6):381-6
references.pmid: 16109498
references.citation: Clin Neuropharmacol. 2007 Sep-Oct;30(5):249-55
references.pmid: 17909302
references.citation: Parkinsonism Relat Disord. 2007 Dec;13(8):516-9
references.pmid: 17544807
references.citation: Mov Disord. 2006 Dec;21(12):2206-8
references.pmid: 17013907
references.citation: Depress Anxiety. 2000;11(2):58-65
references.pmid: 10812530
references.citation: Mov Disord. 2006 Apr;21(4):524-9
references.pmid: 16261618
references.citation: J Sex Med. 2009 Apr;6(4):1177-1180
references.pmid: 18466265
references.citation: Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2009 Mar;202(4):611-20
references.pmid: 18836703
references.citation: Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2007 Aug;193(2):159-70
references.pmid: 17393143
references.citation: Nature. 1990 Sep 13;347(6289):146-51
references.pmid: 1975644
references.citation: J Gambl Stud. 2008 Dec;24(4):411-22
references.pmid: 18561000
references.citation: Mov Disord. 2000 Sep;15(5):869-72
references.pmid: 11009192
references.citation: Exp Clin Psychopharmacol. 2010 Jun;18(3):267-76
references.pmid: 20545391
references.citation: Neuropsychologia. 2006;44(10):1663-73
references.pmid: 16730032
references.citation: Pharmacol Biochem Behav. 2000 Nov;67(3):637-45
references.pmid: 11164096
references.citation: Neuropsychopharmacology. 2009 Jul;34(8):2041-52
references.pmid: 19262467
references.citation: PLoS One. 2008 Jun 25;3(6):e2479
references.pmid: 18575579
references.citation: J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2000 Apr;68(4):423-8
references.pmid: 10727476
references.citation: J Exp Anal Behav. 1968 Jan;11(1):1-8
references.pmid: 5636851
references.citation: Arch Neurol. 2005 Sep;62(9):1377-81
references.pmid: 16009751
references.citation: Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2004 Jul;174(3):341-57
references.pmid: 14985929
references.citation: Neurology. 2003 Aug 12;61(3):422-3
references.pmid: 12913220
references.citation: Behav Res Methods. 2005 Aug;37(3):379-84
references.pmid: 16405133
references.citation: J Gambl Stud. 2009 Sep;25(3):425-31
references.pmid: 19241148
references.citation: Eur Neuropsychopharmacol. 1998 May;8(2):113-20
references.pmid: 9619689
references.citation: J Clin Psychopharmacol. 2008 Feb;28(1):45-51
references.pmid: 18204340
references.citation: Biol Psychiatry. 2004 Jul 1;56(1):54-60
references.pmid: 15219473
references.citation: Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2010 Jan;207(4):645-59
references.pmid: 19838863
references.citation: J Exp Anal Behav. 1984 Nov;42(3):435-52
references.pmid: 16812401
references.citation: CNS Drugs. 2008;22(5):407-16
references.pmid: 18399709
references.citation: Compr Psychiatry. 2010 Mar-Apr;51(2):115-20
references.pmid: 20152290
references.citation: Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2008 Feb;196(2):221-32
references.pmid: 17909750
references.citation: Clin Ther. 2006 Aug;28(8):1065-1078
references.pmid: 16982285
references.citation: Neuropsychopharmacology. 2010 Feb;35(3):591-604
references.pmid: 19940844