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Reward & Addiction





Animals models are widely used to unravel the brain’s reward circuitry and how these systems are compromised during substance abuse, addiction and states of compulsion. A variety of approaches exist to evaluate reward-based behaviors in rodents. Of relevance to substance abuse studies are the self-administration and conditioned place preference (CPP) tests. Voluntary intake of drug using a self-administration operant chamber is a standard technique to study the evolution of addiction and mechanisms related to drug relapse. The CPP test is another classic protocol, which screens drugs for abuse potential based on associative memory.


Self Administration







Common Applications

  • Drug Addiction
  • Depression
  • Eating Disorders
  • Drug Screening
  • Gambling Disorders
  • Anxiety Disorders






Combined Approaches

Real-time place preference with optogenetic stimulation is a valuable approach in dissecting the reinforcing vs aversive properties of neural populations. The Panlab Spatial Place Preference Chamber, featured in JoVe, is ideal for these experiments offering a 3 compartment, open-top design for tethered subjects. 

Combine with the digital output capacities of our SMARTIO video tracking option for a fully automated solution!
 


Place Preference Box



 






Recent References

Conditioned Place Preference Boxes (Drug Reinforcement/ Aversion)
1. Akers AT, Cooper SY, Baumgard ZJ. et al. Upregulation of nAChRs and Changes in Excitability on VTA Dopamine and GABA Neurons Correlates to Changes in Nicotine-Reward-Related Behavior. eNeuro. 2020 Oct 15;7(5):ENEURO.0189-20.2020.

2. Bimpisidis Z, König N, Wallén-Mackenzie Å. Two Different Real-Time Place Preference Paradigms Using Optogenetics within the Ventral Tegmental Area of the Mouse. J Vis Exp. 2020 Feb 12;(156).

3. Patel D, Sundar M, Lorenz E, Leong KC. Oxytocin Attenuates Expression, but Not Acquisition, of Sucrose Conditioned Place Preference in Rats. Front Behav Neurosci. 2020;14:603232.

Self-Administration Boxes (Drug Intake/Escalation)
4. Bosse GD, Cadeddu R, Floris G. et al. The 5α-reductase inhibitor finasteride reduces opioid self-administration in animal models of opioid use disorder. J Clin Invest. 2021 May 17;131(10):e143990.

5. Cunningham JI, Todtenkopf MS, Dean RL. et al. Samidorphan, an opioid receptor antagonist, attenuates drug-induced increases in extracellular dopamine concentrations and drug self-administration in male Wistar rats. Pharmacol Biochem Behav. 2021 May;204:173157.

6. Burkovetskaya ME, Small R, Guo L. et al. Cocaine self-administration differentially activates microglia in the mouse brain. Neurosci Lett. 2020 May 29;728:134951.

7. Harmony ZR, Alderson EM, Garcia-Carachure I. et al. Effects of nicotine exposure on oral methamphetamine self-administration, extinction, and drug-primed reinstatement in adolescent male and female rats. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2020 Apr 1;209:107927. (methamphetamine)

8. Sustkova-Fiserova M, Puskina N, Havlickova T. et al. Ghrelin receptor antagonism of fentanyl-induced conditioned place preference, intravenous self-administration, and dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens in rats. Addict Biol. 2020 Nov;25(6):e12845.

9. Lecca D, Scifo A, Pisanu A, Valentini V, Piras G, Sil A, Cadoni C, Di Chiara G. Adolescent cannabis exposure increases heroin reinforcement in rats genetically vulnerable to addiction. Neuropharmacology. 2020 Apr;166:107974.

10. Viudez-Martínez, A., García-Gutiérrez, M.S., Medrano-Relinque, J. et al. Cannabidiol does not display drug abuse potential in mice behavior. Acta Pharmacol Sin. 2019; 40, 358–364.