The primary purpose of this book and its companion volumeThe Behavioral Genetics of Nicotine and Tobacco is to explore the ways in which recent studies on nicotine and its role in tobacco addiction have opened our eyes to the psychopharmacological properties of this unique and fascinating drug. WhileThe Behavioral Genetics of Nicotine and Tobacco considers the molecular and genetic factors which influence behavioral responses to nicotine and how these may impact on the role of nicotine in tobacco dependence, the present book focuses on the complex neural and psychological mechanisms that mediate nicotine dependence in experimental animal models and their relationship to tobacco addiction in humans.
These volumes will provide readers a contemporary overview of current research on nicotine psychopharmacology and its role in tobacco dependence from leaders in this field of researchand will hopefully prove valuable to those who are developing their own research programmes in this important topic.
Imaging Tobacco Smoking with PET and SPECT.- Behavioral Mechanisms Underlying Nicotine Reinforcement.- The Role of Mesoaccumbens Dopamine in Nicotine Dependence.- Nicotine Withdrawal.- Neurobiologal bases of cue- and nicotine-induced reinstatement of nicotine seeking.- Psychiatric disorders as vulnerability factors for nicotine addiction: What have we learned from animal models?.
