Oral self-administration of phencyclidine analogs by rhesus monkeys: conditioned taste and visual reinforcers

Three monkeys self-administered orally-delivered phencyclidine, 1-(1-phencyclohexyl) piperidine (PCP), N-ethyl-1-phencyclohexylamine (PCE), and 1-[1-(2-thienyl)cyclohexyl]piperidine (TCP) over a wide range of concentrations (0.0156, 0.0312, 0.0625, 0.125, 0.25, and 0.5 mg/ml). Water was also available under a concurrent fixed-ratio (FR) 16 schedule. Drug deliveries were substantially higher than concurrent water deliveries at all concentrations, indicating that the three compounds functioned as effective reinforcers. Maximum liquid deliveries occurred at concentrations of 0.0625 (PCP and TCP) and 0.125 mg/ml (PCE). TCP was much shorter-acting (10-15 min) than PCP (4-6h) based on observations of severe ataxia at high concentrations. To investigate the conditioned reinforcing effects of taste, a quinine solution (0.088 mg/ml) was substituted for PCP (0.25 mg/ml) in five monkeys. Four monkeys responded for quinine in excess of water for a range of seven to over 30 sessions, while one monkey (M-R) did not show any substantial responding for quinine. With the same five monkeys (treatment order mixed), the effect of visual stimuli was tested by substituting water for PCP while retaining the visual stimuli indicating drug availability. Four monkeys showed increased responding on the side signaling drug for only 0-4 sessions, while one monkey (M-R) showed persistent responding for water on the side with drug stimuli for 29 sessions. These results indicated that taste functioned as an effective conditioned reinforcer, while visual stimuli appeared to be less effective in the oral drug self-administration paradigm.