Abstract
Discriminative stimulus effects have been studied extensively with the two-response, food-reinforced operant procedure and more recently also with discriminated taste aversion (DTA) procedures. DTA procedures have the advantage of a more rapid discrimination training. However, the test phase, i.e., drug substitution, of the DTA procedure is more time consuming (1 test per 4 days) than the test phase of the two-response procedure (2 tests per 5 days). The present study investigated whether a DTA procedure with 2 tests per 5 days could be implemented. In addition, the specificity of the DTA procedure was investigated. Rats were trained to discriminate chlordiazepoxide (CDP, 20 mg/kg, IP) from vehicle using a discriminated taste aversion procedure. Selective suppression of saccharin consumption after CDP injections was maximal after seven CDP-LiCl pairings. In subsequent substitution tests, with 2 tests per 5 days, CDP-mimicking effects were found only for another benzodiazepine, diazepam, and for a barbiturate, pentobarbital. The results indicate that rats can be rapidly trained to discriminate CDP from vehicle in the discriminated taste aversion procedure and that the CDP-cue so produced has the same specificity as in a two-response, food-reinforced operant procedure. However, the DTA procedure has a number of drawbacks that make its advantage over the two-response procedure questionable.
Published Version
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.