Do psychostimulant drugs really have aversive properties?"

FERNANDEZ, G.; REVILLO, D.A.; PAGLINI, M.G.; ARIAS, C.

Huerta Grande

Congreso; Sociedad Argentina de Neurociencias; 2012

Sociedad Argentina de Neurociencias

Psychostimulant drugs induce appetitive and aversive learning in rats. According to some authors the appetitive effects are more likely to be associated with contextual cues, while the aversive effects have been consistently found in taste aversion learning. Parker claimed that rats avoid any taste that predicts a change in their homeostasis because this specie cannot vomit. The goal of the present study was to assess Parkerís hypothesis employing an odor learning preparation in infant rats (PD15-17). Two conditioning trials were employed in which subjects received contingent presentations of a novel odor (almond) and an emetic (LiCl) or psychostimulant (amphetamine) drug. The hedonic value of the almond odor was tested by means of a consumption test or in terms of locomotor avoidance. Rats showed odor avoidance in both tests when the almond odor was previously paired with LiCl. However, subjects trained with amphetamine showed odor avoidance when they were evaluated in the consumption test, but odor preference in the locomotor activity test. These results represent an additional evidence for Parker`s hypothesis, showing that a given CS that predicts the effects of amphetamine can elicit approaching behaviors or avoidance depending on the modality of the test.