“The Evaluation of the Rewarding Effects of Inhaled Toulene Vapors in Mice”
Onarae V. Rice, Furman University, Greenville, SC 29613

Toluene and many other toluene-containing substances are abused as inhalants.  Recently, there has been a resurgence of inhalant use amongst teenagers and young adults that could potentially lead to the abuse of other drugs (i.e. alcohol, cocaine, or heroin).  Research has shown that the brain’s endocannabinoid system may play a role in mediating, or modulating, the rewarding effects of many drugs of abuse.  In addition, they’ve utilized a conditioned place preference paradigm to demonstrate drug seeking behavior.  The goal of this project is to determine if the brain’s endocannabinoid system is also involved in the rewarding properties of toluene; and if so, establish if this appetitive behavior is attenuated, or alleviated, in the cannabinoid receptor (CB1) knockout mouse.  In addition, we plan to investigate the abuse potential of ethanol, and other abusive drugs, after pretreatment of toluene. 

Onarae V. Rice
Assistant Professor of Psychology
Furman University
330 Poinsett Highway
Greenville, NC 29613
Phone: (864) 294-3468
Fax: (864) 294-3530