AUTHOR=Mascarin Alixandria T. , Mac Ava M. , Kallakuri Srinivasu , Greenwald Mark K. , Perrine Shane A. 

TITLE=Sex-dependent effects of food-restriction on cocaine self-administration and cocaine-seeking in rats

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience

VOLUME=Volume 19 - 2025

YEAR=2025

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/behavioral-neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fnbeh.2025.1603564

DOI=10.3389/fnbeh.2025.1603564

ISSN=1662-5153

ABSTRACT=IntroductionMisuse of drugs and natural rewards, such as food, share common neural pathways and comparably influence behavioral consequences. Food-restriction enhances drug-taking and drug-seeking behaviors in animals, but the effect of food-restriction on cocaine self-administration and cocaine-seeking in both sexes has not been well characterized.MethodsTherefore, the present study investigated differences between food-restricted vs. ad libitum-feeding male and female Wistar rats on the acquisition of cocaine self-administration and cue-induced reinstatement of cocaine-seeking.ResultsFood access sex-dependently altered the acquisition of cocaine self-administration such that food-restricted females, but not males, displayed an escalated intake behavior over time. Only food-restricted females differed significantly between active and inactive lever pressing during the reinstatement of cocaine-seeking session.DiscussionTaken together, these results suggest that food-restriction sex-dependently improves learning of cocaine self-administration that persists to alter cocaine-seeking behavior following abstinence.