Abstract
Few reports have described conditions under which nicotine self-administration occurs in rats. In this study, rats which initially lever pressed for cocaine infusion (0.05 mg/kg) during 1 h experimental sessions continued to obtain similar infusion numbers when nicotine (0.03 mg/kg) was available. When saline was substituted for nicotine, infusions decreased from 11.8±4.5/h to 5.4±1.1/h but returned to pre-saline levels when it was reintroduced (12.0±5.5/h). These results indicate that nicotine can serve as a positive reinforcer for rats under the historical and schedule conditions described.
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Tessari, M., Valerio, E., Chiamulera, C. et al. Nicotine reinforcement in rats with histories of cocaine self-administration. Psychopharmacology 121, 282–283 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02245640
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02245640