Chunk #53 — Locomotor Activating, Autonomic and Central Electrophysiological Responses to Alcohol Predictive of Risk — Heart rate and autonomic stimulation
Another suggested measure is sensitivity to the effect of alcohol to stimulate heart rate. This would parallel the behavioral measure of locomotor stimulation, but on a physiological level. Support for heart rate stimulation as a measure of reinforcement/reward comes from the findings that (a) contingent and noncontingent electrical stimulation of the ventral tegmental area stimulates heart rate in rats (Burgess et al. 1993), (b) increases in heart rate paralleled performance of a conditioned response reinforced by petting in dogs (Kostarczyk, Fonberg 1982), as well as (c) in humans monetary and positive feedback increases heart rate (Fowles et al. 1982) and there is a positive association between level of incentive and magnitude of the heart rate increase (Tranel et al. 1982). This latter effect is important given the discussion of changes in perceived magnitude of reward and measurement of drug reinforcement/reward discussed by Stephens et al. in this issue (Stephens et al. 2010).
