Date of Award:
5-2026
Document Type:
Thesis
Degree Name:
Master of Science (MS)
Department:
Psychology
Committee Chair(s)
Amy L. Odum
Committee
Amy L. Odum
Committee
Jonathan Tarbox
Committee
Gregory J. Madden
Abstract
Smoking tobacco is the leading avoidable cause of death and drives many health problems. Nicotine, the main chemical in tobacco products, keeps people using it. This study used the Rat Electronic Nicotine Delivery System (RENDS), an inexpensive and freely shared, to examine e-cigarette use in adolescent and adult female rats by exploring four phases of nicotine delivered and not delivered to understand use patterns among ages. Our study found that both adolescent and adult female rats chose to inhale nicotine when given the opportunity, showing drug-seeking behavior. Overall, nicotine use was similar between ages. These results could help inform therapies, medications, and policies to prevent and treat e-cigarette addiction by identifying behavior patterns involved in the development and maintenance of nicotine seeking behavior.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
Recommended Citation
Santos Da Silva, Daniel, "The Rodent Electronic Nicotine Delivery System (RENDS): Effects of Age on Self-Administration of Inhaled Nicotine in Female Rats" (2026). All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present. 749.
https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd2023/749
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