Abstract
Chronic prior treatment with amphetamine greatly attenuates the conditioned aversion to saccharin that may be produced by amphetamine. Two experiments were designed to determine some of the limiting conditions of this phenomenon. In Experiment 1, chronic treatment with 7.5 mg/kg of amphetamine was administered for 0, 1, 5, or 20 days prior to pairing saccharin with an injection of 1.0 mg/kg of d-amphetamine sulphate. The results indicated that between 5 and 20 days of treatment were necessary for the treatment to be effective in attenuating conditioned aversion. In Experiment 2, rats were withdrawn from treatment with 20 mg/kg of amphetamine for 1, 7, or 14 days prior to conditioning trials with 1.0 mg/kg of amphetamine. The prior treatment lost its effectiveness in attenuating conditioned aversion between 7 and 14 days after withdrawal. Although alternative explanations are possible, the time intervals required for acquisition and loss of the effectiveness of prior treatment are consistent with the hypothesis that tolerance is the mechanism underlying the observed effects.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Berger, B.: Conditioning of food aversions by injections of psychoactive drugs. J. comp. physiol. Psychol. 81, 21–26 (1972)
Berman, R. F., Cannon, D. S.: The effect of prior ethanol experience on ethanol-induced saccharin aversions. Physiol. Behav. 12, 1041–1044 (1974)
Cappell, H., Le Blanc, A. E.: Punishment of saccharin drinking by amphetamine in rats and its reversal by chlordiazepoxide. J. comp. physiol. Psychol. 85, 97–104 (1973)
Cappell, H., Le Blanc, A. E.: Conditioned aversion by psychoactive drugs: Does it have significance for an understanding of drug dependence? Addict. Behav. (in press)
Cappell, H., Le Blanc, A. E., Endrenyi, L.: Aversive conditioning by psychoactive drugs: Effects of morphine, alcohol, and chlordiazepoxide. Psychopharmacologia (Berl.) 29, 352–356 (1973)
Cappell, H., Le Blanc, A. E., Herling, S.: Modification of the punishing effects of psychoactive drugs by previous drug experience. J. comp. physiol. Psychol. (in press)
Iglauer, C., Woods, J. H.: Concurrent performances: Reinforcement by different doses of intravenous cocaine in rhesus monkeys. J. exp. anal. Behav. 22, 179–196 (1974)
Kalant, H., Le Blanc, A. E., Gibbins, R. J.: Tolerance to, and dependence on, some non-opiate psychotropic drugs. Pharmacol. Rev. 23, 135–191 (1971)
Kirk, R. E.: Experimental design: Procedures for the behavioral sciences. Belmont, Calif.: Brooks/Cole 1968
Le Blanc, A. C., Cappell, H.: Attenuation of punishing effects of morphine and amphetamine by chronic prior treatment. J. comp. physiol. Psychol. 87, 691–698 (1974)
Parker, L., Failor, A., Weidman, K.: Conditioned preferences in the rat with an unnatural need state: Morphine withdrawal. J. comp. physiol. Psychol. 82, 294–300 (1973)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Cappell, H., Le Blanc, A.E. Conditioned aversion by amphetamine: Rates of acquisition and loss of the attenuating effects of prior exposure. Psychopharmacologia 43, 157–162 (1975). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00421018
Received:
Revised:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00421018