title: The compulsion zone: a pharmacological theory of acquired cocaine self-administration.
abstract: In rats trained to reliably self-administer cocaine, the cumulative drug level was calculated during sessions in which cocaine was administered either contingently or non-contingently. During both types of sessions a high rate of responding was observed only when cocaine levels were above the priming threshold but below the satiety threshold. When the levels of non-contingently administered cocaine were maintained between the priming and satiety thresholds for at least 5 h rats continuously maintained high rates of responding. Although it is generally assumed that rats are responding for cocaine during self-administration sessions, the persistence of responding during non-contingent administration is consistent with responding being induced by cocaine. Therefore, in contrast to the basic assumptions underlying the operant theory of self-administration behavior, choice, contingency and reinforcement are not necessary to explain acquired cocaine self-administration. The presented data demonstrate that there is no ascending limb of the dose-response curve and that the cocaine priming and satiety thresholds delineate the lower and upper limits, respectively, of a cocaine "compulsion zone". It is concluded that the self-administration paradigm is the sum of cocaine induced responding and cocaine induced satiety and which of these cocaine-induced effects occur at any time is dependent on the cocaine level. This novel pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic theory provides a basis for a comprehensive understanding of the cocaine self-administration paradigm.
authors.affiliation: Division of Neuroscience, Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, University of Cincinnati, 231 Albert Sabin Way, Cincinnati, OH 45267-0559, USA. andrew.norman@uc.edu
authors.forename: Andrew B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Norman
authors.forename: Vladimir L
authors.initials: VL
authors.lastname: Tsibulsky
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003042:Cocaine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D019970:Cocaine-Related Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D003216:Conditioning, Operant / Q000187:drug effects; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012528:Satiety Response / Q000502:physiology; D012646:Self Administration
chemical_list: D003042:Cocaine