Heroin self-administration: I. Incubation of goal-directed behavior in rats.

Full Abstract

This study used heroin self-administration to investigate incubation of goal-directed heroin-seeking behavior following abstinence. Male Sprague-Dawley rats self-administered heroin on a fixed ratio 10 (FR10) schedule of reinforcement with licking of an empty spout serving as the operant behavior during 14 daily 3 h sessions. After this acquisition period, all rats received a 90 min extinction session following either 1 day or 14 days of home cage abstinence. When the extinction session occurred after only 1 day of home cage abstinence, rats with a history of heroin self-administration divided their responses equally between the previously "active" and "inactive" spouts. However, when the extinction session occurred following 14 days of home cage abstinence, the rats exhibited marked goal-directed heroin-seeking behavior by licking more on the previously "active" than "inactive" spout. These findings demonstrate that heroin-seeking behavior incubates over time, resulting in goal-directed heroin-seeking behavior in rats following 14 days but not 1 day of abstinence. Moreover, this facilitatory effect occurred in response to a different training schedule, lower total drug intake, and shorter periods of daily access than previously reported with heroin.

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Author information

Author/s: Kuntz, Kara L (KL); Twining, Robert C (RC); Baldwin, Anne E (AE); Vrana, Kent E (KE); Grigson, Patricia S (PS);

Affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, R130, 500 University Drive, Hershey, PA 17033, USA. kkuntz@psu.edu

Grants: DA 13770 (Agency:United States NIDA) ; DA021450 (Agency:United States NIDA) ; DA09815 (Agency:United States NIDA) ; F31 DA021450-01 (Agency:United States NIDA)

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

Journal: Pharmacology, biochemistry, and behavior (Pharmacol Biochem Behav), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2008-Sep; vol 90 (issue 3) : pp 344-8

Dates: Created 2008/06/09; Completed 2008/08/25;

PMID: 18471868, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 11/6/2008)

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Animals
Conditioning, Operant - drug effects
Extinction, Psychological - drug effects
Goals
Heroin - administration & dosage; pharmacology
Heroin Dependence - psychology
Male

Narcotics - administration & dosage; pharmacology
Rats
Rats, Sprague-Dawley
Reinforcement Schedule
Self Administration
Substance Withdrawal Syndrome - psychology
Water Deprivation

Associated Chemicals: Narcotics (0) ; Heroin (561-27-3)

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