title: Differential motivational profiles following adolescent sucrose access in male and female rats.
abstract: Adolescents are the highest consumers of sugar sweetened drinks. Excessive consumption of such drinks is a likely contributor to the development of obesity and may be associated with enduring changes in the systems involved in reward and motivation. We examined the impact of daily sucrose consumption in young male and female rats (N=12 per group) across the adolescent period on the motivation to perform instrumental responses to gain food rewards as adults. Rats were or were not exposed to a sucrose solution for 2 h each day for 28 days across adolescence [postnatal days (P) 28-56]. They were then trained as adults (P70 onward) to lever press for a palatable 15% cherry flavored sucrose reward and tested on a progressive ratio (PR) schedule to assess motivation to respond for reinforcement. Female rats exposed to sucrose had higher breakpoints on the PR schedule than controls, whereas male rats exposed to sucrose had lower breakpoints than controls. These results show that consumption of sucrose during adolescence produced sex-specific behavioral changes in responding for sucrose as adults.
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, UNSW Australia, Australia. Electronic address: a.reichelt@unsw.edu.au.
authors.forename: Amy C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Reichelt
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, UNSW Australia, Australia.
authors.forename: Kirsten N
authors.initials: KN
authors.lastname: Abbott
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, UNSW Australia, Australia.
authors.forename: R Fred
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: Westbrook
authors.affiliation: School of Medical Sciences, UNSW Australia, Australia.
authors.forename: Margaret J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Morris
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D001835:Body Weight / Q000502:physiology; D003216:Conditioning, Operant / Q000502:physiology*; D004435:Eating / Q000502:physiology / Q000523:psychology; D030762:Estrous Cycle / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012055:Reinforcement Schedule; D012054:Reinforcement, Psychology; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D013395:Sucrose / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000378:metabolism; D013549:Sweetening Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D013549:Sweetening Agents; D013395:Sucrose
keywords: Adolescence; Binge eating; Dopamine; Motivation; Progressive ratio; Sex differences