Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 3, 2026

A Conditioned Place Preference Protocol for Measuring Incubation of Craving in Rats
Published on: November 6, 2018
Relationships between sleep and addiction: the role of drug-environment conditioning
Laís F Berro1, Roberto Frussa-Filho2, Sergio Tufik1
1Department of Psychobiology, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, R. Napoleão de Barros, 925, 04021002 São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
Abstract:
Addiction to cocaine and other amphetamine-like psychostimulants is a chronic relapsing disorder characterized by loss of control over drug taking. Sleep disturbance is common among patients in recovery from drug abuse and can precipitate relapse. It has been widely demonstrated that sleep deprivation and psychostimulants share similar neurobiological effects regarding the dopaminergic system. In addition, the persistence of a drug-environment conditioning induced by repeated psychostimulant treatment, which is deeply related to the dopaminergic neurotransmission, is thought to play a key role in the addictive cycle. In this scenario, we hypothesized that sleep deprivation is a potential detrimental factor to the extinction process of previously established drug-environment conditioning. Therefore, sleep deprivation would extend the pairing between the cocaine reinforcing effects and the environmental cues, thereby leading drug abusers to relapse.
Related Concept Videos
Substance Use Disorders Affecting Sleep
Understanding the concepts of physical dependence,...
Drug Abuse and Addiction: Pharmacological Phenomena
Real-World Application of Classical Conditioning
Higher-order, or second-order, conditioning occurs when a neutral stimulus becomes associated with an already established conditioned stimulus through repeated pairings. For instance, if a dog has been...
Drug Dependence
Insufficient Sleep and Sleep Deprivation
Sleep deprivation is a more severe form of sleep loss...
CNS Depressants: Alcohol and Nicotine

