Date of Award
12-2009
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Department
Psychology
First Advisor
Dr. Lisa E. Baker
Second Advisor
Dr. Bradley Huitema
Third Advisor
Dr. Richard Spates
Access Setting
Masters Thesis-Campus Only
Abstract
The current study implemented place conditioning, a well-established preclinical screening assay of the appetitive and aversive effects of psychoactive drugs, to examine the behavioral effects of an atypical hallucinogen and kappa opioid receptor agonist, salvinorin A in male Sprague-Dawley rats. This study challenges previous findings of Braida et al. (2008) who reported that salvinorin A produced conditioned place preference in male Wistar rats with a different vehicle used in drug preparation and a different method of data analysis. In the current study, 0.4 mg/kg salvinorin A produced a significant reduction in horizontal activity on all drug conditioning trials compared to the corresponding vehicle trials. After drug conditioning, the 0.04 mg/kg-treated group spent slightly less time on the drug-paired side and the 0.4 mg/kg-treated group spent more time on the drug-paired side than before conditioning, although this difference was less than the difference observed in the control group. Moreover, both the 0.04 mg/kg and the 0.4 mg/kg group spent significantly less time on the drug-paired side than the vehicle-paired side on test day. The current findings indicate that salvinorin A (0.04 and 0.4 mg/kg) established conditioned place aversion in male Sprague-Dawley rats.
Recommended Citation
Walker, Sheryl L., "Salvinorin A Establishes Conditioned Place Aversion in Male Sprague-Dawley Rats" (2009). Masters Theses. 305.
https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/masters_theses/305