title: Neurochemical basis of conditioned partner preference in the female rat: II. Disruption by flupenthixol.
abstract: The effects of the dopamine receptor antagonist flupenthixol were examined on the development of conditioned partner preference induced by paced copulation in female rats. In Experiment 1, ovariectomized, hormone-primed rats were conditioned to associate scented and unscented males with paced and nonpaced copulation, respectively. Females in Experiment 2 associated albino or pigmented males with paced or nonpaced copulation. Flupenthixol or saline was administered before each conditioning trial. During a final drug-free preference test, females could choose to copulate with either a pacing-related or nonpacing-related male. Saline-trained females copulated preferentially with the pacing-related male, whereas flupenthixol disrupted odor but not strain conditioning. The role of dopamine in conditioned partner preference depends on the type of stimuli to be learned.
authors.affiliation: Center for Studies in Behavioral Neurobiology, Department of Psychology, Concordia University, Montréal, Quebec, Canada. coria75@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Genaro A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Coria-Avila
authors.forename: Alex M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Gavrila
authors.forename: Brigitte
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Boulard
authors.forename: Natalie
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Charron
authors.forename: Geoffrey
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Stanley
authors.forename: James G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Pfaus
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D001245:Association Learning / Q000187:drug effects*; D003214:Conditioning, Classical / Q000187:drug effects*; D004193:Discrimination Learning / Q000187:drug effects; D018492:Dopamine Antagonists / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004777:Environment; D005260:Female; D005475:Flupenthixol / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008297:Male; D052586:Mating Preference, Animal / Q000187:drug effects*; D011897:Random Allocation; D051381:Rats; D020318:Rats, Long-Evans; D012903:Smell / Q000502:physiology; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D018492:Dopamine Antagonists; D005475:Flupenthixol