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Opiates and homing.

J Panksepp, F G DeEskinazi

Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology

|August 1, 1980

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Morphine (a potent opiate) sustained a learned social habit in young rats, even without rewards. Naloxone, an opiate antagonist, reversed this effect, highlighting the role of opiate receptors in habit persistence.

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Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Behavioral Pharmacology
Animal Behavior

Background:

Opiates are known to affect learning and memory.
Social behaviors and habit formation are crucial for survival.
Understanding the neural mechanisms underlying habit persistence is important.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the effect of morphine on the acquisition and extinction of a learned social habit in Long-Evans rat pups.
To determine the role of opiate receptors in sustaining this behavior.

Main Methods:

Long-Evans rat pups were trained in a T-maze to run towards their home cage.
Morphine or saline was administered during training and/or extinction phases.
Naloxone was used to block opiate receptors.

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Behavioral acquisition and extinction were quantified by running times and accuracy.

Main Results:

Morphine slowed initial learning but did not affect the number of trials to learn the habit.
Morphine significantly impeded the extinction of the homing behavior, maintaining performance for at least 12 days.
Naloxone reduced this resistance to extinction, and the morphine effect was not state-dependent.
The effect of morphine was blocked by naloxone, indicating an opiate receptor-mediated mechanism.

Conclusions:

Morphine has a potent capacity to sustain a learned social habit in the absence of reinforcement.
Opiate receptors play a critical role in maintaining established behaviors, even when external rewards are absent.
These findings suggest a neurobiological basis for the persistence of certain habits under opiate influence.