Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 19, 2026

A Conditioned Place Preference Protocol for Measuring Incubation of Craving in Rats
Published on: November 6, 2018
Somatosensory cortices are required for the acquisition of morphine-induced conditioned place preference
Zhiqiang Meng1, Chang Liu, Xintian Hu
1Laboratory of Sensory-motor Integration Research, Kunming Institute of Zoology, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, Yunnan, People's Republic of China.
Background:
Sensory system information is thought to play an important role in drug addiction related responses. However, how somatic sensory information participates in the drug related behaviors is still unclear. Many studies demonstrated that drug addiction represents a pathological usurpation of neural mechanisms of learning and memory that normally relate to the pursuit of rewards. Thus, elucidate the role of somatic sensory in drug related learning and memory is of particular importance to understand the neurobiological mechanisms of drug addiction.
Principal Findings:
In the present study, we investigated the role of somatosensory system in reward-related associative learning using the conditioned place preference model. Lesions were made in somatosensory cortices either before or after conditioning training. We found that lesion of somatosensory cortices before, rather than after morphine conditioning impaired the acquisition of place preference.
Conclusion:
These results demonstrate that somatosensory cortices are necessary for the acquisition but not retention of morphine induced place preference.
Related Concept Videos
Somatosensation
Analgesia and Pain Management
Somatosensory, Motor, and Association Cortex
Overview of Somatic Sensory Pathways
The somatosensory system is divided into three main pathways: the dorsal (or posterior) column-medial lemniscus, spinothalamic (or anterolateral), and spinocerebellar pathways.
The dorsal...
Sensory Perception: Organization of the Somatosensory System
The receptor level:
The receptor level is the first stage of sensation. It involves the detection of a stimulus by specialized sensory receptors. The stimulus must arrive within the receptor's receptive field. Next, the receptor converts the energy of the stimulus...
Motor and Sensory Areas of the Cortex
Motor Areas
The motor areas located in the frontal lobe are central to controlling voluntary movements. This region is further subdivided into the primary motor cortex and the premotor cortex.

