Drug conditioning induced by intrastriatal apomorphine administration

The present study examined (1) whether the neostriatum is involved in a drug-induced conditioned locomotor response and; (2) whether this structure participates in the development of behavioral sensitization. Moreover, the present study addressed the question whether the development of behavioral sensitization is necessary for the induction of conditioning. Rats received injections of either apomorphine (2 μg) or vehicle (solution of 0.1% ascorbate/saline) into the dorsal neostriatum daily for 7 days. These treatments were performed immediately prior to (apomorphine-paired group and vehicle group) or 30 min following (apomorphine-unpaired group) 10-min placement in an open field which served as the test environment. After a 3-day drug withdrawal period, the animals were given a 10-min non-drug vehicle test trial in the test environment. Three days later, a drug test with apomorphine was administered to the animals of the paired and unpaired treatment groups; the vehicle group again received an injection of vehicle. The analysis of locomotor activity in the open field (measured as the distance traversed) revealed that locomotor activity in the apomorphine-paired group was higher than in the other groups. There were no indications for behavioral sensitization to intrastriatal apomorphine, since the locomotor response in the apomorphine-paired group did not increase, but rather decreased with daily repeated injections of apomorphine. Furthermore, only the apomorphine-paired animals showed a higher locomotor response when tested after an intrastriatal injection of vehicle in the previously apomorphine-paired environment, which is indicative of a conditioned drug effect. These results suggest that the neostriatum is directly involved in the development of drug-induced conditioning of locomotor behavior but not in the establishment of behavioral sensitization.