Rewarding Effects of the Hallucinogen 4-AcO-DMT Administration and Withdrawal in Rats: A Challenge to the Opponent-Process Theory.
Neuroscience letters January 18, 2024 Hector Vargas-Perez, Fernando Minauro-Sanmiguel, Ryan Ting-A-Kee et al. 2 citations
A classic theory of addiction, opponent-process theory, holds that a drug's immediate rewarding effects are followed by an aversive aftereffect that drives continued use. This study tested whether a 5-HT2A agonist (4-AcO-DMT, a psychedelic) follows that pattern in male rats. In a standard place-preference test 24 hours after dosing—when the drug had cleared—the rats showed no preference for the drug-paired location, suggesting no rewarding aftereffect. However, when the test was modified to capture only the acute drug effect, the rats did show a place preference, indicating the drug itself was rewarding. In a separate test measuring only the 24-hour aftereffect, that aftereffect also produced a strong place preference.