Conditioning following repeated exposure to MDMA in rats: Role in the maintenance of MDMA self-administration.
Behavioral Neuroscience January 1, 2006 Evangeline Daniela, David Gittings, Susan Schenk 37 citations
Rats pressed a lever to receive intravenous MDMA, and their responding increased when the required number of presses rose from 1 to 5, decreased when saline replaced MDMA, and increased again when MDMA was restored. During training, each MDMA infusion was accompanied by a light. After an average of 19 daily sessions, omitting either the light or the drug caused responding to decline gradually over 15 days. Omitting both the light and the drug produced a dramatic and lasting decrease in responding. These results suggest that cues paired with MDMA acquire conditioned properties that may contribute to drug-taking behavior.