Conditioned reinstatement of drug-seeking behavior with a discrete compound stimulus classically conditioned with intravenous cocaine

The present study investigated the ability of a light and tone (LT) compound stimulus paired with cocaine infusions to reinstate cocaine-seeking behavior. Rats were trained to self-administer cocaine in the presence or absence of the LT during daily 3-hr sessions (maintenance). During Maintenance Days 5 and 10, rats underwent classical conditioning, whereby passive cocaine infusions were paired with either short-delayed, random, or no presentations of an LT. After extinction sessions, rats underwent test sessions in which the LT was presented in a noncontingent or response-contingent manner to measure conditioned cocaine-seeking behavior. The results demonstrated that response-contingent LT presentations significantly increased cocaine-seeking behavior and that the LT trained in a classical conditioning format transferred to an operant secondary reinforcer.