ABSTRACT
The role of dopamine (DA) in drug seeking behavior has been a matter of debate in the literature: One theory claims that DA triggers incentive motivational behavior, the other one favors the idea that DA itself is the rewarding property induced by the positive stimuli. The present experiment tries to contribute to a solution of the controversy by the approach of relating DA-associated motivational behavior to constellations of hormone response to a DA agonistic and DA antagonistic challenge performed in the same subjects and by relating their responses to different aspects of personality and smoking motivation. DA agonist (lisuride = LIS), DA antagonist (fluphenazine = FLU), and placebo (P) were applied to 36 male smokers who were deprived from smoking for 3.5 h in a balanced crossover design. Cigarette craving and prolactin (PRL) responses to the drugs were compared under the three pharmacological conditions and related to personality and smoking motivation. Results showed that PRL responder types to LIS and FLU, defined as differences from respective placebo values, emerged as pure agonist or antagonist responders in two-thirds of the cases and as mixed types in one-third. PRL-LIS responders developed more craving in the LIS condition and PRL-FLU responders when exposed to FLU. Furthermore, the first group scored high on the sensation seeking scale (SSS), which related to the concept of incentive motivation and the FLU responders high on extraversion and smoking motivation for stimulating purposes suggesting the endeavor to replace DA. Thus, evidence for the validity of both theories is proven.
