To improve our understanding of the mechanisms underlying alcohol abuse, experiments are proposed to test the possibility that classical conditioning, with the effects of ethanol acting as hte conditioned stimulus (CS), can temporarily modify the effects of alcohol, and hence the likelihood of its abuse. The first experiment replicates a previous experiment showing that a low dose (first drink) of ethanol could, after classical conditioning, induce an ethanol-opposite effect on body temperature. Experiments 2 and 3 extend this study by investigating the effects of partial reinforcement of the CS, and of temporal parameters in the conditioning paradigm. Experiment 4 tests whether drugs other than ethanol can act as CSs, and is a necessary precursor to Experiment 5 which tests whether the subjective (sensory) effects of ethanol withdrawal can be established as conditioned responses (CRs) to drug CSs. Experiment 6 investigates interactions between the effects of anxiety and those of ethanol, by testing whether fear induced by pentylenetetrazol can become a CS which induces an ethanol-opposite CR. The experiments are designed to elucidate the mechanisms which initiate and maintain the abuse of alcohol, and specifically the role of drugs as conditioned stimuli.
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| Bormann, N M; Overton, D A (1993) Morphine as a conditioned stimulus in a conditioned emotional response paradigm. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 112:277-84 |
| Overton, D A (1991) A historical perspective on drug discrimination. NIDA Res Monogr :5-24 |
