title: The effects of neonatal cocaine exposure on a play-rewarded spatial discrimination task in juvenile rats.
abstract: This study examined the effects of neonatal cocaine exposure on the rewarding properties of play in a modified T-maze. Animals were artificially reared from postnatal day (PND) 4-9 with drug concentrated in four daily feeds. There were four treatment groups, 40 mg/kg/day cocaine, 20 mg/kg/day cocaine, an artificially reared control and a surgery control. From PND 38-42, subjects were tested with a food reward (EXP 1) or a play reward (EXP 2). No deficits in learning were seen when the reward was food. The 20 mg/kg/day cocaine group, however, showed impaired learning and altered play behavior when the reward was access to a play partner. Neonatal cocaine exposure thus appears to differentially affect learning based on the type of reward presented.
authors.affiliation: Psychology Department, University of Kentucky, Lexington 40506-0044, USA.
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Willford
authors.forename: T M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Segar
authors.forename: L S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Hansen-Trench
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Barron
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D001835:Body Weight / Q000187:drug effects; D003042:Cocaine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004193:Discrimination Learning / Q000187:drug effects*; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012054:Reinforcement, Psychology; D012201:Reward