Importance of environmental context in the development of amphetamine- or apomorphine-induced stereotyped behavior...

The present study was designed to determine whether single and repeated pretreatment regimens with amphetamine or apomorphine differ in the context-dependency of sensitization of stereotyped behavior. Male CF-1 mice that were pretreated with a single high dose of amphetamine (14 mg/kg intraperitoneally [IP]) or apomorphine (40 mg/kg subcutaneously [SC]) only became sensitized to a lower test dose of amphetamine (7 mg/kg IP) or apomorphine (3 mg/kg SC) when placed in an environment that was the same as the pretreatment environment. However, animals pretreated with 3 high doses (24-h apart) of amphetamine (14 mg/kg IP) or apomorphine (40 mg/kg SC) did demonstrate sensitization to a lower test dose of amphetamine (7 mg/kg IP) or apomorphine (3 mg/kg SC) when placed in an environment that was different from the pretreatment environment. Context-dependent sensitization, but not context-independent sensitization, was extinguished by pairing the test environment with saline injections instead of drug injections. In addition, it was determined that neither sensitization model could be related to pharmacokinetic factors. Therefore, the results indicate that repeated exposure to amphetamine or apomorphine overcomes the context-dependent component of sensitization of amphetamine- or apomorphine-induced stereotyped behavior.