Characterization of operant social interaction in rats: effects of access duration, effort, peer familiarity, housing conditions, and choice between social interaction vs. food or remifentanil.

ABSTRACT:

Rationale and objective

Social factors play a critical role in drug addiction. We recently showed that rats will abstain from methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin, and remifentanil self-administration when given a choice between the addictive drug and operant social interaction. Here, we further characterized operant social interaction by determining the effects of access duration, effort, peer familiarity, and housing conditions. We also determined choice between social interaction vs. palatable food or remifentanil.

Methods

We first trained single-housed male and female rats to lever-press for social interaction with a sex- and age-matched peer. Next, we determined effects of access duration (3.75 to 240 s), effort (increasing fixed-ratio schedule requirements or progressive r

SUBMITTER: Chow JJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10724845 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature