Lack of effect of habenula lesion on heroin self-administration in rats.

Full Abstract

We examined the effects of bilateral electric lesion of the habenula (Hb) on the acquisition and maintenance of heroin self-administration. The rats were trained to self-administer heroin (0.05 mg/kg/infusion) under FR1 schedule in daily 4h sessions. A progressive ratio schedule (PR3-4) was used to evaluate the relative motivational value of heroin reinforcement. Compared with the controls, neither pre-training nor post-training of Hb lesions had any effects on the total amount of infusions and motivational value of heroin reward. However, pre-training Hb lesion caused transient active and inactive nose-poke responding in the early phase of training, suggesting increased locomotor exploration. The results suggest that Hb might not play an important role in mediating the acute reinforcing effect of heroin.

Author information

Author/s: Wang, Yuhong (Y); Zhang, Fuqiang (F); Tang, Shuaien (S); Lai, Miaojun (M); Hao, Wei (W); Zhang, Yong (Y); Yang, Jianli (J); Zhou, Wenhua (W);

Affiliation: Mental Health Institute and WHO Collaborating Center for Drug Abuse and Health, The 2nd Xiangya Affiliated Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China.

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: Neuroscience letters (Neurosci Lett), published in Ireland. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2009-Sep; vol 461 (issue 2) : pp 167-71

Dates: Created 2009/07/13; Completed 2009/09/23;

PMID: 19539705, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 9/23/2009, IMS Date: )

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