Choosing Under the Influence: A Drug-Specific Mechanism by Which the Setting Controls Drug Choices in Rats.

ABSTRACT: Ample evidence shows that the setting can control drug choices in both humans and animals. Here we reveal in rats that a major mechanism of this control involves a regulation of the drug influence on other competing options at the time of choice. Briefly, rats were offered a choice between a drug dose (cocaine or heroin) and a brief access to water sweetened with saccharin in two different settings. In one setting, choosing under the influence was not possible and rats largely preferred saccharin over either cocaine or heroin. In contrast, when the same rats were shifted to a setting where choosing under the influence was possible, they chose the drug either nonexclusively or exclusively depending on whether the drug enhanced or suppressed sweet reward, respectively. Thus, when rats were u

SUBMITTER: Vandaele Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5130140 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature