Suppression Of Operant Behavior Research Articles

The M-Maze task: An automated method for studying fear memory in rats exposed to protracted aversive conditioning

BackgroundFear conditioning (FC) in rodents is the most used animal model to investigate the neurobiology of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Although research using FC has generated a better understanding of fear memories, studies often rely on mild or moderate FC training and behavioral analysis generally focuses on measuring freezing responses within few test sessions. New methodWe introduce the M-Maze task, a system that measures extinction of conditioned fear using suppression of operant behavior. The apparatus consists of an M-shaped maze where rats are trained to alternate nose poking at two pellet dispensers. Proximity sensors measure the animal’s locomotion, as well as the latencies and number of operant behaviors. Here we also describe the protracted aversive conditioning (PAC), a rat model of severe fear that induces resistant extinction following a 4-day conditioning protocol that combines delay, unpredictable, and short- and long-trace conditioning. ResultsAn intense one-day auditory FC protocol induced a sharp elevation in transit time and suppression of nose pokes by conditioned cues, but in contrast to what is found in PTSD patients, fear extinction was rapidly observed. On the other hand, PAC alone or in combination with exposure to single prolonged stress induced persistent extinction impairments in M-Maze tests, as well as enhanced anxiety, and social withdrawal. Comparison with other existing methodsThe M-Maze task is fully automated and allows multiple animals to be tested simultaneously in long-term experiments. Moreover, PAC training can be an alternative approach to study extinction-resistant fear. ConclusionsThe M-Maze task allows rapid and unbiased measurements of fear-induced suppression. We suggest that long-term assessment of extinction impairments would lead to a better understanding of the neurobiology of persistent fear and the screening for new therapies.

Treatments that weaken Pavlovian conditioned fear and thwart its renewal in rats: Implications for treating human phobias.

In experiments using a total of 144 albino rat subjects, the authors assessed the ability of fear-weakening treatments to prevent fear renewal (relapse). Conditioned suppression of operant behavior served as the measure of fear in an A-B-A (acquisition-treatment-test) renewal paradigm. In Experiment 1, 100 nonreinforced exposures to a feared cue during treatment (extinction) did not reduce fear renewal relative to 20 exposures. In Experiment 2, explicitly unpaired (EU) treatments thwarted both renewal and reacquisition. In Experiment 3, conditioned inhibition (CI) and differential conditioning (DC) treatments weakened renewal and resisted both reacquisition and a form of reinstatement. In Experiment 4, EU, DC, and CI treatments all thwarted renewal. Evidence suggested that the ability of the treatments to do so reflected the combined effects of transfer of extinction across treatment and test contexts and habituation to the unconditioned stimulus.

Evidence for cocaine dependence in monkeys following a prolonged period of exposure.

The behavioral consequences of prolonged continuous exposure to cocaine were examined in rhesus monkeys. Operant behavior was sampled for 0.5 h every 6 h, and cocaine was continuously infused through an intravenous catheter. Cocaine (4.0-32 mg/kg/day) initially caused reductions in the rate of responding for food and tolerance developed to this effect. When the infusion of cocaine was terminated following a period of exposure during which cocaine dose was escalated to 32 mg/kg/day, there was a marked suppression of operant behavior, lasting as long as 72 h, as well as observable changes in behavior (e.g., hyporesponsiveness). This is the first demonstration of behavioral disruptions following discontinuation of cocaine exposure and suggests that the preparation will be a useful animal model for further examining the possibility that exposure to cocaine can induce dependence.

An experimental analysis of “empathic” response: Effects of pain reactions of pigeon upon other pigeon's operant behavior.

Suppression of operant behavior by exposure to pain reactions of conspecifics was examined with pigeons. Three groups of pigeons were trained on a VI schedule, and were then exposed to the pain reactions of an adjoining bird to electric shocks. Although every subject showed suppression of responding, the suppression decreased with repeated exposures. Following this assessment, a conditioning group received conditioned suppression training in which the pain reaction of the adjoining bird was the CS and an electric shock was the US; a shock exposure group received the electric shock without any explicit CS; and, a no-shock group did not receive any shock. After these treatments, every group was exposed to the pain reactions of the adjoining bird (test 1). The conditioning group and the shock exposure group showed clear suppression in responding, but the no-shock group did not. The no-shock group then received the shock exposure treatment and the conditioned suppression training succesively, and the shock exposure group received the conditioned suppression training. Results of tests with the pain reaction of the adjoining bird supported the results of the test 1, however, suppression caused by the shock exposure was not so clear in the no-shock group. The present results demonstrated that conspecific behavior can become a CS by conditioned suppression training, and, the behavior to an aversive stimulus can acquire aversive properties for other conspecifics when they have shared the exposure to the same aversive stimulus.

Suppression of operant behavior and schedule-induced licking in rats.

The first experiment studied the effects of punishment on rats' lever pressing maintained by a fixed-interval schedule of food reinforcement and on the associated schedule-induced licking. When licking was followed by shock, licking was suppressed but lever pressing was largely unaffected. When lever pressing was followed by shock, lever pressing was suppressed but licking was unaffected. In both cases, the punished behavior recovered its previous unpunished level when the shocks were discontinued. In a second experiment, the rats' lever pressing was maintained by a variable-interval schedule of food reinforcement under which polydipsic licking also developed. Both lever pressing and licking were partially suppressed during a stimulus correlated with occasional unavoidable electric shocks. With a higher shock intensity, both behaviors were suppressed further. Both lever pressing and licking recovered their previous levels when shocks were discontinued. These results show that schedule-induced licking, which has been described as adjunctive behavior, can be suppressed by procedures that suppress reinforced lever pressing, an operant behavior.

Cholinergic synapses in the ventromedial hypothalamus for the suppression of operant behavior by punishment and satiety.

Cholinergic synapses in the ventromedial hypothalamus for the suppression of operant behavior by punishment and satiety.