The effect of delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol and methamphetamine on sustained attention in the jumping spider (Trite planiceps).

Type of content
Journal Article
Thesis discipline
Degree name
Publisher
American Psychological Association (APA)
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Language
en
Date
2024
Authors
Humphrey , Bonnie
Glass , Michelle
Hill , Jonathan
Osborne , Amy J.
Stouffer , Daniel B.
Noble , Alexandra
Helton , William S.
Chen , Shuli
Nelson, Ximena
Abstract

Decreasing responsiveness to repeated visual stimuli (i.e., the inability to sustain attention) in jumping spiders (Salticidae) parallels that found in humans. In humans, drugs affect vigilance, and previous work on salticids has shown that the “vigilance decrement” is unlikely to be sensory habituation and that caffeine ameliorates reductions in attention. We exposed Trite planiceps to delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and methamphetamine before presenting them with a repeated visual stimulus. In the THC experiment, spiders were given a THC solution, water, or a vehicle solution, using a within-subjects design. The orienting response (i.e., “interest”) of salticids on a track ball to face a fly stimulus presented peripherally on a monitor was scored, as well as “general movement” (e.g., walking, as a control for physical fatigue) and “no movement.” The methamphetamine experiment was identical except that salticids were given methamphetamine solution or water. In both the THC and methamphetamine treatments, general movement dropped over time, while in control treatments, this was constant. Additionally, due to an initial stimulating effect of methamphetamine on interest, the response decrement was significantly steeper when spiders were administered methamphetamine compared with water. Our results suggest that the modulation of sustained attention, and possibly motivation, is likely in salticids. basic local alignment search tool genome queries on a closely related species and pharmacological radioligand experiments suggested that salticids do not possess cannabinoid receptors, but the presence of transient receptor potential proteins may help explain the small behav ioral changes observed with THC. In contrast, how methamphetamine affects salticids remains unknown

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Citation
Humphrey B, Glass M, Hill J, Osborne AJ, Stouffer DB, Noble A, Helton WS, Chen S, Nelson XJ The effect of delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol and methamphetamine on sustained attention in the jumping spider (Trite planiceps).. Journal of Comparative Psychology.
Keywords
response decrement, habituation, pharmacological study, cognition, learning
Ngā upoko tukutuku/Māori subject headings
ANZSRC fields of research
31 - Biological sciences::3109 - Zoology::310901 - Animal behaviour
52 - Psychology::5204 - Cognitive and computational psychology::520401 - Cognition
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This article is published under a CC BY license. The reader is expected to respect the intellectual property of the author and to provide appropriate credit if the content is reused.