Aversive properties of opiate withdrawal studied in rats

Preference conditioning models were applied to the study of the motivational properties of opiate withdrawal. Conditioned place and taste aversions were produced by a single injection of an opiate antagonist in rats implanted with a morphine but not a placebo pellet. The hypothesis that withdrawal-produced jumping reflects the aversive properties of withdrawal was not confirmed. The use of central and peripheral administration of antagonists suggest that the aversive effects reflect antagonist activity in the brain.