The effect of chronic cocaine exposure during pregnancy on the acquisition of operant behaviors by rhesus monkey offspring

• Published in: Neurotoxicology and teratology Vol. 18; no. 2; pp. 155 - 166
• Main Authors: Morris, P, Gillam, M.P, Allen, R.R, Paule, M.G
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY Elsevier Inc 01.03.1996; Elsevier Science
• Subjects: Animals; Attention - drug effects; Behavior; Behavior, Animal - drug effects; Biological and medical sciences; Body Weight - drug effects; Cocaine; Cocaine - toxicity; Conditioning, Operant - drug effects; Discrimination (Psychology) - drug effects; Drug addictions; Female; Learning - drug effects; Macaca mulatta; Medical sciences; Memory - drug effects; Motivation; Narcotics - toxicity; Offspring; Operant; Pregnancy; Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects; Rhesus; Toxicology; Pregnancy; Offspring; Cocaine; Behavior; Rhesus; Operant; Drug addiction; Toxicity; Memory; Attention; Monkey; Discrimination task; Learning; Progeny; Vertebrata; Mammalia; Instrumental behavior; Animal; Primates; Teratogen
• ISSN: 0892-0362; 1872-9738
• DOI: 10.1016/0892-0362(95)02031-4

To explore possible long-term effects of gestational cocaine exposure in a nonhuman primate model, pregnant rhesus monkeys were treated from about 1 month of gestation until term with either 0 ( N = 3), 0.3 ( N = 3), 1.0 ( N = 3), or escalating doses up to 8.5 ( N = 3) mg/kg (IM), three times per day, 5 consecutive days per week. Despite these differences in cocaine exposure, the experimental groups did not differ significantly with respect to the postnatal growth of offspring over an 18-month period following birth. Beginning at 6 months of age, the behavior of offspring was monitored using an operant test battery that included five food-reinforced tasks designed to model aspects of learning, color and position discrimination, time estimation, short-term memory and attention, and motivation. Although the acquisition of each operant behavior by offspring progressed significantly during training between 6 and 18 months of age, this acquisition was not differentially affected by gestational cocaine exposure. It was concluded that, in a rhesus monkey model, chronic cocaine exposure during pregnancy had no significant effect on the offsprings' acquisition of operant behaviors.