Dissociation of decision-making from escalated drug intake within a long-access model

General decision-making deficits induced by chronic drug intake have been suggested to underlie the development of substance use disorder (SUD). To determine the effects of differential drug self-administration (cocaine or fentanyl) history on decision making, a procedure built upon choice theory was run alongside a drug (cocaine or fentanyl) escalation procedure in rats. Isomorphic food choice was measured each day under unpredictable probabilistic conditions that required constant engagement of decision systems, followed by self-administered drug (cocaine or fentanyl) for 1or 6 h. Despite clear intake escalation (a measure widely used as indication of dysregulated decision-making and posited as a preclinical model of SUD in which animals take increasing amounts of drug compared to their 1-hr access counterparts), isomorphic food choice did not differ between drug access groups during self-administration or subsequent forced abstinence, suggesting that decision-making remained intact and that general drug-induced deficits in decision-making are not necessarily an underlying contributor in intake escalation within the long-access preclinical model of SUD.