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Morphine tolerance acquisition as an associative process
Journal of Experimental Psychology. Animal Behavior Processes
|January 1, 1977
Summary
Morphine tolerance develops through learned associations with drug administration rituals. Environmental cues and conditioning procedures significantly influence the acquisition and extinction of analgesic tolerance.
Area of Science:
- Pharmacology
- Behavioral Neuroscience
- Psychology
Background:
- Traditional theories of drug tolerance often overlook the role of environmental cues.
- Learned associations may play a significant role in the development of pharmacological tolerance.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the role of environmental cues and conditioning in morphine analgesic tolerance.
- To determine if associative learning principles can explain morphine tolerance.
Main Methods:
- Experiments involved presenting environmental cues associated with morphine administration.
- Tolerance was assessed after extinction trials (cues without drug).
- Acquisition of tolerance was examined under conditions of latent inhibition and partial reinforcement.
Main Results:
- Established morphine tolerance was attenuated by presenting drug-associated cues without the drug, indicating tolerance can be extinguished.
- Repeated exposure to the administration procedure without the drug before pairing slowed tolerance acquisition (latent inhibition).
- Interspersing placebo sessions between morphine sessions impaired tolerance development (partial reinforcement effects).
Conclusions:
- Morphine analgesic tolerance is significantly influenced by associative learning and environmental cues.
- A conditioning analysis provides a framework for understanding drug tolerance, potentially extending to habituation.
- These findings challenge traditional tolerance models by highlighting the importance of learned associations.