Work

Locomotor Activity Predicts Acquisition of Self-Administration Behavior but Not Cocaine Intake.

Year: 2005

Type: article

Abstract: The current study investigates locomotor activity in a novel environment and correlates these activity levels with cocaine self-administration in rats that were either trained or untrained on a lever-pressing task prior to cocaine self-administration. The authors report that it is the rate of learning the lever-pressing task, not cocaine self-administration, that correlates with locomotor activity. The results suggest that a correlation between locomotor activity and cocaine self-administration is secondary to a link between locomotor activity and rate of learning to lever press for a reward. The authors conclude that locomotor activity is not necessarily an indicator of propensity to self-administer cocaine and demonstrate that environmental novelty and rate of learning an operant task are important considerations when designing experiments on drug-seeking behaviors.

Source: Behavioral Neuroscience

DOI: 10.1037/0735-7044.119.2.464

Authors: Jennifer M. Mitchell, Chris L. Cunningham, Gregory P. Mark

Institution: University of California, San Francisco

Language: English

Topic: Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior

Subfield: Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience

Field: Neuroscience

Domain: Life Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: green

Funder: National Institute on Drug Abuse