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- Title
Social reinstatement: a rat model of peer-induced relapse.
- Authors
Weiss, Virginia G.; Yates, Justin R.; Beckmann, Joshua S; Hammerslag, Lindsey R.; Bardo, Michael T.
- Abstract
Background: An important factor that can lead to drug relapse is to re-associate with drug-using social peers, but there is little literature on the effect of social peers on relapse in animal models.Methods: The current study used a dual-compartment operant conditioning apparatus that allowed adult male rats to respond for cocaine in the presence of a conspecific. In experiment 1, rats were trained to self-administer cocaine in the presence of a social peer that was separated by a wire screen partition and then that peer was used as a reinstatement cue following a period of extinction. In the next experiments, rats were trained on alternating sessions to self-administer cocaine in the presence of one peer and to self-administer saline in the presence of a different peer using either a single-active lever procedure (experiment 2) or a double-active lever procedure (experiment 3). Following extinction of responding in the absence of the peers, the effect of re-exposure to the cocaine- and saline-associated peers on reinstatement of drug seeking was determined. This was tested using both single- and double-active lever procedures.Results: In experiment 1, a peer that was present throughout cocaine self-administration was able to reinstate cocaine seeking following a period of extinction. In experiments 2 and 3, drug seeking was reinstated by the cocaine-associated peer (S+), but not the saline-associated peer (S−). This discrimination occurred when using either the single-active lever procedure or double-active lever procedure.Conclusion: These results indicate that a social peer can be used as a discriminative stimulus to signal cocaine availability and that re-introduction of a peer previously paired with cocaine can reinstate cocaine seeking, confirming clinical reports that peer affiliation among abstinent cocaine users is an important determinant of relapse.
- Subjects
SUBSTANCE abuse relapse; PEERS; COCAINE; SUBSTANCE abuse; LABORATORY rats
- Publication
Psychopharmacology, 2018, Vol 235, Issue 12, p3391
- ISSN
0033-3158
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1007/s00213-018-5048-8