TY - JOUR AU - Stringfield, Sierra J. AU - Madayag, Aric C. AU - Boettiger, Charlotte A. AU - Robinson, Donita L. PY - 2019 DA - 2019/07/17 TI - Sex differences in nicotine-enhanced Pavlovian conditioned approach in rats JO - Biology of Sex Differences SP - 37 VL - 10 IS - 1 AB - Nicotine exposure enhances Pavlovian conditioned approach (PCA), or the learned approach to reward-predictive cues. While females show elevated approach to conditioned stimuli compared to males, potentially indicating heightened addiction vulnerability, it is unknown how sex may interact with nicotine to influence approach behavior. Additionally, brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels can be altered significantly after repeated nicotine exposure, suggesting a potential mechanism contributing to nicotine-induced behavioral phenotypes. The present study investigated the role of sex on nicotine-induced changes to stimulus-response behavior and associated BDNF protein levels. SN - 2042-6410 UR - https://doi.org/10.1186/s13293-019-0244-8 DO - 10.1186/s13293-019-0244-8 ID - Stringfield2019 ER -