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Reinstatement in a cocaine versus food choice situation: reversal of preference between drug and non‐drug rewards
Author(s) -
Tunstall Brendan J.,
Kearns David N.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
addiction biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.445
H-Index - 78
eISSN - 1369-1600
pISSN - 1355-6215
DOI - 10.1111/adb.12054
Subject(s) - psychology , extinction (optical mineralogy) , preference , priming (agriculture) , food preference , reinforcement , addiction , conditioned place preference , self administration , drug , developmental psychology , pharmacology , social psychology , neuroscience , medicine , psychiatry , food science , biology , paleontology , botany , germination , economics , microeconomics
Recent studies show that when given a mutually exclusive choice between cocaine and food, rats almost exclusively choose food. The present experiment investigated potential shifts in preference between levers associated with either food or cocaine that might occur during extinction (food and cocaine no longer available) and during footshock‐induced, cocaine‐primed and food‐primed reinstatement. During self‐administration sessions where food and cocaine were simultaneously available, rats demonstrated a stable food preference, choosing food over cocaine on 83% of trials. During extinction when neither reinforcer was available, no preference between levers was evident and responding decreased until rats responded on the previously food‐ and cocaine‐associated levers at equally low rates. Footshock resulted in a non‐specific reinstatement of responding upon both levers, while cocaine priming resulted in a significant preference for cocaine seeking over food seeking. This suggests that the mechanism underlying footshock‐induced reinstatement is distinct from that of cocaine‐primed reinstatement. Food priming engendered a mild, non‐specific increase in responding on both levers. Although rats generally prefer food over cocaine when presented with a choice between these primary reinforcers, the present results suggest that in certain situations, cocaine‐seeking behavior prevails over food‐seeking behavior.