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Research Interests:

My research is directed toward developing behavioral and pharmacological methods of reducing and preventing drug abuse. Animals are trained to self-administer drugs that humans abuse, and several phases of the addiction process are modeled, such as acquisition, maintenance, withdrawal, craving, and relapse. Our laboratory tests a number of therapeutic drugs, such as antidepressants and opioid and dopamine agonists and antagonists; they have shown considerable efficacy in reducing drug self-administration. Behavioral methods that are proving effective are enriching the environment with alternative nondrug reinforcers; for example, food and sweet-tasting drinking solutions. Behavioral economic analyses quantify the reinforcing efficacy of the drug under varied environmental and pharmacological treatments. Recent work shows that the greatest reduction in drug self-administration is achieved when behavioral and pharmacological treatments are combined. We are also interested in the interrelationships of feeding and drug abuse, and in testing the notion of common reward mechanisms for drugs, food, and other nondrug substances and events.

Another topic of study in our laboratory is the dependence producing effect of drugs. We have found that sensitive behavioral performance measures reveal subtle behavioral deficits due to drug withdrawal when no physical signs are present. Further, these behavioral deficits last for long periods of time, and may be a factor contributing to relapse to drug abuse in humans. Behavioral disturbances have been measured after low drug doses and short or intermittent periods of access with drugs such as caffeine, nicotine, cocaine, and phencyclidine (PCP), dispelling the common notion that excessive or long term drug abuse is necessary to produce withdrawal effects. We are using this model to find pharmacological and behavioral strategies to relieve withdrawal distress.

Selected Publications:

(For a comprehensive list of recent publications, refer to PubMed, a service provided by the National Library of Medicine.)

Carroll ME, Anderson MM, Morgan AD. Higher locomotor response to cocaine in female (vs. male) rats selectively bred for high (HiS) and low (LoS) saccharin intake. Pharmacol Biochem Behav. 2007 Nov;88(1):94-104.

Anker JJ, Larson EB, Gliddon LA, Carroll ME. Effects of progesterone on the reinstatement of cocaine-seeking behavior in female rats. Exp Clin Psychopharmacol. 2007 Oct;15(5):472-80

Larson EB, Anker JJ, Gliddon LA, Fons KS, Carroll ME. Effects of estrogen and progesterone on the escalation of cocaine self-administration in female rats during extended access. Exp Clin Psychopharmacol. 2007 Oct;15(5):461-71.

Larson EB, Carroll ME. Estrogen receptor beta, but not alpha, mediates estrogen's effect on cocaine-induced reinstatement of extinguished cocaine-seeking behavior in ovariectomized female rats. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2007 Jun;32(6):1334-45.

Newman JL, Perry JL, Carroll ME. Social stimuli enhance phencyclidine (PCP) self-administration in rhesus monkeys. Pharmacol Biochem Behav. 2007 Jun-Jul;87(2):280-8.

Perry JL, Anderson MM, Nelson SE, Carroll ME. Acquisition of i.v. cocaine self-administration in adolescent and adult male rats selectively bred for high and low saccharin intake. Physiol Behav. 2007 May 16;91(1):126-33.

Perry JL, Nelson SE, Anderson MM, Morgan AD, Carroll ME. Impulsivity (delay discounting) for food and cocaine in male and female rats selectively bred for high and low saccharin intake. Parmacol Biochem Behav. 2007 Apr;86(4):822-37.

Carroll ME, Anderson MM, Morgan AD. Regulation of intravenous cocaine self-administration in rats selectively bred for high (HiS) and low (LoS) saccharin intake.Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2007 Feb;190(3):331-41.

Former Graduate Students:

Erin Larson (Ph.D. 2006, Neuroscience, University of Minnesota).