Exposure to sucrose during periods of withdrawal does not reduce cocaine-seeking behavior in rats.

ABSTRACT: Concomitant access to drugs of abuse and alternative rewards such as sucrose has been shown to decrease addiction-related behaviors in animals. Here we investigated whether access to sucrose during abstinence in contexts that are temporally and physically distinct from drug-related contexts could reduce subsequent drug seeking. In addition, we investigated whether a history of cocaine self-administration would alter the rewarding effects of sucrose. Rats self-administered cocaine for ten sessions, while yoked-saline rats received only saline injections, and then we subjected them to a 30-day withdrawal period during which they had access to water and sucrose continuously or intermittently according to a schedule that induces binge-drinking behavior. At the end of the withdrawal period, rat

SUBMITTER: Nicolas C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4800416 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature