Abstract
Long-Evans rats ( N = 3) were trained to lever press on a fixed-ratio 4 (FR 4) schedule with ethanol (10% v/v) presented as the reinforcer. Each rat received a total of six bilateral accumbens microinjections, oner per week. They were tested with one physiological saline control, three 20.0-μg/brain d-amphetamine, and two 6.0-μg/brain quinpirole injections given 10 min prior to operant sessions. Ethanol-reinforced responding terminated after approximately 10 min during control sessions. Microinjections of the D 2 agonist quinpirole and the nonspecific dopamine (DA) agonist d-amphetamine increased total responding but produced slowed response rates that continued for 45–60 min. The slowed response rate produced by d-amphetamine resulted in a peak increase in interresponse times (IRTs) between 8–10 s, whereas quinpirole increased IRTs in the 14- to 16-s range, indicating that nonspecific DA activation resulted in higher rates of ethanol-reinforced responding than specific D 2 activation although both drugs decreased local response rates. These data indicate that the amount and temporal extent of ethanol-reinforced responding are increased by microinjections of DA agonists in the nucleus accumbens and support the hypothesis that DA activity in this region is involved in the regulation of ethanol-reinforced responding.
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