Novel apparatus and method for drug reinforcement.
Animal models of reinforcement have proven to be useful for understanding the neurobiological mechanisms underlying drug addiction. Operant drug self-administration and conditioned place preference (CPP) procedures are expansively used in animal research to model various components of drug reinforcement, consumption, and addiction in humans. For this study, we used a novel approach to studying drug reinforcement in rats by combining traditional CPP and self-administration methodologies. We assembled an apparatus using two Med Associate operant chambers, sensory stimuli, and a Plexiglas-constructed neutral zone. These modifications allowed our experiments to encompass motivational aspects of drug intake through self-administration and drug-free assessment of drug/cue conditioning strength with the CPP test. In our experiments, rats self-administered cocaine (0.75 mg/kg/inj, i.v.) during either four (e.g., the "short-term") or eight (e.g., the "long-term") alternating-day sessions in an operant environment containing distinctive sensory cues (e.g., olfactory and visual). On the alternate days, in the other (differently-cued) operant environment, saline was available for self-infusion (0.1 ml, i.v.). Twenty-four hours after the last self-administration/cue-pairing session, a CPP test was conducted. Consistent with typical CPP findings, there was a significant preference for the chamber associated with cocaine self-administration. In addition, in animals undergoing the long-term experiment, a significant positive correlation between CPP magnitude and the number of cocaine-reinforced lever responses. In conclusion, this apparatus and approach is time and cost effective, can be used to examine a wide array of topics pertaining to drug abuse, and provides more flexibility in experimental design than CPP or self-administration methods alone.
Feduccia
Allison A
AA
College of Pharmacy, Division of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Texas at Austin, USA.
Duvauchelle
Christine L
CL
D000818:Animals; D016739:Behavior, Addictive; D003042:Cocaine / Q000008:administration & dosage; D003216:Conditioning, Operant; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012055:Reinforcement Schedule; D012054:Reinforcement, Psychology; D012646:Self Administration / Q000295:instrumentation
D003042:Cocaine
Pharmacol Biochem Behav. 2009 Nov;94(1):163-8
19698740
Behav Neurosci. 2009 Aug;123(4):913-25
19634952
Brain Res. 2007 Jul 9;1157:1-10
17544385
Eur J Neurosci. 1998 Mar;10(3):1121-7
9753180
Eur J Neurosci. 2005 Jul;22(1):195-200
16029209
Neuropharmacology. 2008 Oct;55(5):771-9
18634806
Addict Biol. 2006 Mar;11(1):2-38
16759333
Addict Biol. 2007 Sep;12(3-4):227-462
17678505
Addiction. 2007 Dec;102(12):1863-70
18031422
Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2000 Dec;153(1):31-43
11255927
Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2002 Oct;163(3-4):327-44
12373434
Alcohol. 1990 May-Jun;7(3):221-5
2184835
Psychopharmacology (Berl). 1996 Jan;123(2):144-53
8741937