Conditioned increase in place preference by access to novel objects: antagonism by MK-801

In three separate place conditioning experiments with rats, repeated access to novel objects in one of two distinct environments conditioned an increase in preference for the novelty-paired environment. A conditioned increase in preference was found whether novel objects were paired with a randomly chosen environment or with the less preferred of two environments (conditioned against a preference). This enhanced preference did not depend on the control group employed. Control groups exposed only to the place conditioning apparatus or to both the apparatus and the novel objects showed no systematic shift in place preference. Intravenous infusions of cocaine also produced an increase in preference using the procedures employed with novel objects. Pretreatment with the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist MK-801 (0.03 mg kg(-1)) blocked acquisition of the enhanced place preference conditioned by access to novel objects without decreasing time spent with objects or inducing a place aversion in controls. Combined, these results show that access to novel objects can serve as an appetitive stimulus like drugs of abuse and that this novelty-induced appetitive process involves NMDA receptors. These place-conditioning procedures may provide a good model for determining the behavioral and neural process underlying the appetitive effects of novelty.

[1]  A. Baron,et al.  Stimulus complexity and sensory reinforcement. , 1961, Journal of comparative and physiological psychology.

[2]  M. Bardo,et al.  Effect of forebrain dopamine depletion on novelty-induced place preference behavior in rats , 1990, Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior.

[3]  Xiaojuan Xu.  NMDA Receptor Antagonist MK-801 Selectively Impairs Learning of the Contiguity of the Conditioned Stimulus and Unconditioned Stimulus in Goldfish , 1997, Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior.

[4]  S. Cooper,et al.  The Neuropharmacological basis of reward , 1989 .

[5]  M. Bardo,et al.  Single-trial conditioned place preference using intravenous morphine , 1986, Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior.

[6]  Robert N. Hughes,et al.  Food deprivation and locomotor exploration in the white rat , 1965 .

[7]  A. Phillips,et al.  Conditioned place preference as a measure of drug reward. , 1989 .

[8]  G. Heyman,et al.  Rat toys, reinforcers, and response strength: An examination of the R e parameter in Herrnstein's equation , 1997, Behavioural Processes.

[9]  John K. Robinson.  Pharmacological models of amnesia: A reexamination of the effects of cholinergic muscarinic antagonist scopolamine and NMDA-receptor antagonist MK-801 on delayed nonmatching-to-position in rats , 1997, Psychobiology.

[10]  M. Bardo,et al.  Novelty-induced place preference behavior in rats: Effects of opiate and dopaminergic drugs , 1989, Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior.

[11]  R. F. Westbrook,et al.  The NMDA Receptor Antagonist MK-801 Blocks Acquisition and Extinction of Conditioned Hypoalgesic Responses in the Rat , 1994, The Quarterly journal of experimental psychology. B, Comparative and physiological psychology.

[12]  M. Le Moal,et al.  Factors that predict individual vulnerability to amphetamine self-administration. , 1989, Science.

[13]  L. Donohew,et al.  Sensation Seeking, Marijuana Use, and Responses to Prevention Messages , 1990 .

[14]  M. Bardo,et al.  Psychobiology of novelty seeking and drug seeking behavior , 1996, Behavioural Brain Research.

[15]  Maria Wilson.  Novelty as a reinforcer for position learning in children , 1974 .

[16]  S. Schenk,et al.  Blockade of the acquisition of cocaine self‐administration by the NMDA antagonist MK‐801 (dizocilpine) , 1993, Behavioural pharmacology.

[17]  M. Zuckerman.  Sensation Seeking : Beyond the Optimal Level of Arousal , 1979 .

[18]  D. Corbett.  Possible abuse potential of the NMDA antagonist MK-801 , 1989, Behavioural Brain Research.

[19]  Michael T. Bardo,et al.  Role of dopamine D₁ and D₂ receptors in novelty-maintained place preference. , 1993 .

[20]  J. Mellanby,et al.  The playground maze: a new method for measuring directed exploration in the rat , 1992, Journal of Neuroscience Methods.

[21]  O. Ray,et al.  Visual exploration in monkeys as a function of visual incentive duration and sensory deprivation. , 1967, Journal of comparative and physiological psychology.

[22]  R. Bevins,et al.  Individual differences in response to novelty, amphetamine-induced activity and drug discrimination in rats. , 1997, Behavioural pharmacology.

[23]  M. Le Moal,et al.  Pathophysiological basis of vulnerability to drug abuse: role of an interaction between stress, glucocorticoids, and dopaminergic neurons. , 1996, Annual review of pharmacology and toxicology.

[24]  G. Rebec,et al.  Transient increases in catecholaminergic activity in medial prefrontal cortex and nucleus accumbens shell during novelty , 1996, Neuroscience.

[25]  M. Fanselow,et al.  Differential effects of the N-methyl-D-aspartate antagonist DL-2-amino-5-phosphonovalerate on acquisition of fear of auditory and contextual cues. , 1994, Behavioral neuroscience.

[26]  H. Fowler.  Curiosity and exploratory behavior , 1965 .

[27]  R. Ranaldi,et al.  Systemic pretreatment with MK-801 (dizocilpine) increases breaking points for self-administration of cocaine on a progressive-ratio schedule in rats , 1996, Psychopharmacology.

[28]  M. Shapiro,et al.  Spatial memory and N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antagonists APV and MK-801: memory impairments depend on familiarity with the environment, drug dose, and training duration. , 1994, Behavioral neuroscience.

[29]  L. Cervo,et al.  Effects of dopaminergic and glutamatergic receptor antagonists on the acquisition and expression of cocaine conditioning place preference , 1995, Brain Research.

[30]  W. Schmidt,et al.  N-Methyl-d-aspartic acid-receptor antagonists block morphine-induced conditioned place preference in rats , 1995, Neuroscience Letters.

[31]  C. Harley,et al.  MK-801 and AP5 impair acquisition, but not retention, of the Morris milk maze , 1990, Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior.

[32]  Alice B. Sheldon.  Preference for familiar versus novel stimuli as a function of the familiarity of the environment. , 1969 .