Intra-Administration Associations and Withdrawal Symptoms: Morphine-Elicited Morphine Withdrawal.

Abstract

On the basis of a conditioning analysis, some drug "withdrawal symptoms" are conditional responses elicited by stimuli paired with the drug effect. Prior demonstrations of conditional elicitation of withdrawal symptoms evaluated the role of environmental cues; however, pharmacological cues also typically signal a drug effect. Within each administration, early drug onset cues (DOCs) may become associated with the later, larger drug effect (intra-administration associations). This experiment evaluated the contribution of intra-administration associations to withdrawal symptoms. The results indicated that (a). 5 mg/kg morphine elicited behavioral and thermic withdrawal symptoms in rats previously injected on a number of occasions with 50 mg/kg morphine and that (b). DOC-elicited withdrawal symptoms are not a sensitized response to the opiate but rather an associative phenomenon.

Discrete cues paired with naloxone-precipitated withdrawal from acute morphine dependence elicit conditioned withdrawal responses

“…To date all of these studies of conditioned withdrawal from acute dependence included both a morphine and a naloxone injection (4 hr post-morphine) on the Test Day, just as on Conditioning Days. Adams and Holtzman (1990) have suggested that interoceptive cues provided by the onset of antagonist effect are sufficient stimuli to support a conditioned potentiation of withdrawal severity in acute dependence models, and recent work by Siegel and colleagues supports the potency of such interoceptive drug cues as potential conditioned stimuli (McDonald and Siegel, 2004;Sokolowska et al, 2002). This calls into question whether discrete stimuli can evoke conditioned withdrawal effects in our acute dependence model without the added benefit of interoceptive drug cues provided by morphine and/or naloxone.…”

“…) features of the environment but also includes temporal or episodic context (Anagnostaras et al, 2001;Anderson and Jeffery, 2003;Moser and Paulsen, 2001;Sharp, 1999). As argued previously (Schulteis et al, ,2005, the predictive context in our daily acute morphine withdrawal regimen likely includes features such as the drug injection regimen and perhaps even the interoceptive cues provided by the drugs themselves (Adams and Holtzman, 1990;McDonald and Siegel, 2004;Sokolowska et al, 2002).…”

Learning and the wisdom of the body

“…Prior to the start of conditioning, all rats were surgically implanted with radiotelemetric temperature transmitters, permitting continuous remote monitoring of temperature (see McDonald & Siegel, 2004). During the adaptation phase of the experiment, rats were immersed in 4º C water for 1 min once every other day for 10 days.…”

Aumento de la conducta operante tras la presentación de estímulos condicionados asociados al efecto del etanol

“…en el abordaje psicológico de las adicciones, uno de los campos más destacables es la investigación básica abocada a la búsqueda de los mecanismos subyacentes que podrían explicar la conducta adictiva, y es en esta línea donde el estudio de los procesos de aprendizaje asociativo ha realizado un gran aporte tanto desde las investigaciones enmarcadas en el condicionamiento pavloviano (betancourt 2006;betancourt, Inostroza y laborda, 2008;betancourt, Díaz y Quezada, 2009;betancourt, Corada, Dominichetti, laborda, Martínez y Miguez, 2008;larson & Siegel, 1998;McDonald & Siegel, 2004; como en el condicionamiento operante (ahmed & Koob, 1997;Di Ciano & everitt, 2003;Hellemans, Dickinson & everitt, 2006;Miles, everitt, Dalley & Dickinson, 2004;Shalev, Highfield, yap & Shaham, 2000;Shaham & Miczek, 2003).…”