A Comparative Developmental Study of Impulsivity in Rats and Humans: The Role of Reward Sensitivity
Abstract
A bstract: The present study was conducted to test the hypothesis that differences in reward sensitivity between adolescents and adults account for differences in impulsivity. In a comparative study, we examined preferences for various concentrations of sucrose solutions as an operational measure of reward sensitivity in adolescent and adult rats and humans. Humans also completed self‐report measures of impulsivity and reward sensitivity. There was some indication that adolescents preferred sweeter solutions compared to adults. Also, adolescents scored substantially higher on impulsivity. However, adolescents and adults did not differ in self‐ratings of reward sensitivity and personality scores were not consistently related to sucrose preferences. The data highlight some of the benefits and issues that arise with developing comparative measures in humans and animals. Future comparative research using alternative behavioral paradigms is necessary to determine if and how changes in reward sensitivity influence developmental shifts in impulsivity.
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Adolescent rats are more sensitive than adults to the rewarding properties of food, palatable tastants, social peers, and novelty, as measured by conditioned place preference.
“Studies conducted in our laboratory and others likewise have found adolescent rats to be more sensitive than their adult counterparts to the rewarding properties of a variety of positively rewarding stimuli. These include food and palatable tastants (Vaidya et al, 2004; Wilmouth & Spear, 2009; Friemel et al, 2010), as well as the rewarding effects of social peers (Douglas et al, 2004) and novelty”
From Rewards, aversions and affect in adolescence: emerging convergences across laboratory animal and human data (2011) · cites this paper as Vaidya et al, 2004
Adolescent rats show greater hedonic liking responses to rewarding stimuli than adults in several circumstances, as indexed by consumption of sucrose or palatable substances and by taste reactivity.
“Using a variety of behavioral measures thought to reflect hedonic “liking”, adolescent rats as well have been found to exhibit greater “liking” responses to rewarding stimuli than adults under a number of circumstances, with adolescent rats exhibiting greater hedonic “liking” than their mature counterparts when indexed via such traditional measures as consumption of sucrose or other highly pal”
From Rewards, aversions and affect in adolescence: emerging convergences across laboratory animal and human data (2011) · cites this paper as Vaidya et al, 2004
Adolescent rats are more sensitive than adults to the rewarding properties of a variety of positively rewarding stimuli, including food and palatable tastants, social peers, and novelty.
“adolescent rats to be more sensitive than their adult counterparts to the rewarding properties of a variety of positively rewarding stimuli. These include food and palatable tastants (Vaidya et al, 2004; Wilmouth & Spear, 2009; Friemel et al, 2010), as well as the rewarding effects of social peers (Douglas et al, 2004) and novelty (Douglas et al, 2003)”
From Rewards, aversions and affect in adolescence: emerging convergences across laboratory animal and human data (2011) · cites this paper as Vaidya et al, 2004
Adolescent rats exhibit greater hedonic liking responses to rewarding stimuli than adults under a number of circumstances, including consumption of sucrose or other highly palatable substances and taste reactivity to sucrose.
“adolescent rats as well have been found to exhibit greater “liking” responses to rewarding stimuli than adults under a number of circumstances, with adolescent rats exhibiting greater hedonic “liking” than their mature counterparts when indexed via such traditional measures as consumption of sucrose or other highly palatable substances (e.g., Vaidya et al, 2004; Wilmouth & Spear, 2009; Friemel et”
From Rewards, aversions and affect in adolescence: emerging convergences across laboratory animal and human data (2011) · cites this paper as Vaidya et al, 2004
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CHARACTERIZING DOPAMINE FUNCTION IN ADOLESCENT RATS
Matthews, M. (2012) · D-Scholarship@Pitt (University of Pittsburgh)
- Authors
- VAIDYA, J. G., GRIPPO, A. J., JOHNSON, A. K., & WATSON, D.
- Affiliations
- University of Iowa (US)
- Corresponding author
- VAIDYA, JATIN G.
- Venue
- Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2004-06
- Volume
- 1021
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 395-398
- ISSN
- 0077-8923 (ISSN-L)
- 1749-6632
- OpenAlex
- W2100006381
- Cited by
- 45
- References
- 8
- Citations by year
- 2025: 1 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 1 · 2020: 1 · 2018: 2 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 1 · 2013: 3 · 2012: 3
- FWCI
- 0.67
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › General Decision Sciences › Decision-Making and Behavioral Economics
- Keywords
- impulsivity, reward sensitivity, developmental differences, adolescence, sucrose preference, rats, personality, self-report measures
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Aging, Animals, Behavior, Animal, Conditioning, Operant, Dose-Response Relationship, Drug, Female, Humans, Impulsive Behavior, Male, Reward, Risk Factors, Species Specificity, Case-Control Studies, Rats, Sprague-Dawley, Dietary Sucrose, Adolescent Development, Rats
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