Conditioned flavor avoidance as a measure of withdrawal in rats chronically exposed to a caffeine solution

• Published in: Physiology & behavior 2008-09, Vol.95 (1), p.245-251
• Main Authors: Dreumont-Boudreau, Sarah E, Dingle, Rachel N, Alcolado, Gillian M, LoLordo, Vincent M
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Administration, Oral; Animals; Avoidance Learning - drug effects; Avoidance Learning - physiology; Behavior, Animal - drug effects; Behavioral psychophysiology; Biological and medical sciences; Caffeine; Caffeine - administration & dosage; Caffeine - adverse effects; Central Nervous System Stimulants - administration & dosage; Central Nervous System Stimulants - adverse effects; Conditioned flavor avoidance; Conditioning, Classical - drug effects; Dependence; Drug Administration Schedule; Flavoring Agents - administration & dosage; Food Preferences - drug effects; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Male; Medical sciences; Neuropharmacology; Pharmacology. Drug treatments; Psychiatry; Psychoanaleptics: cns stimulant, antidepressant agent, nootropic agent, mood stabilizer; Psychoanaleptics: cns stimulant, antidepressant agent, nootropic agent, mood stabilizer..., (alzheimer disease); Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Psychopharmacology; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Reinforcement (Psychology); Saccharin - administration & dosage; Substance Withdrawal Syndrome - physiopathology; Taste - drug effects; Time Factors; Withdrawal
• ISSN: 0031-9384; 1873-507X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2008.06.008

Abstract Rats were given 21 days of chronic oral caffeine. A novel flavor (Maintenance CS) was then paired with the continuation of caffeine, and a second flavor (Withdrawal CS) was paired with caffeine removal. Rats avoided the Withdrawal CS, and drank more of the Maintenance CS in a two-bottle test, suggesting that removing caffeine had induced withdrawal. The value of the Maintenance CS was investigated by comparing it to a novel flavor paired with water (Neutral CS). In a series of two-bottle tests, the Maintenance and Neutral CSs were equivalent when pitted against each other, and both were preferred to the Withdrawal CS. These results demonstrate that conditioned flavor avoidance is a useful procedure in assessing caffeine withdrawal, and by inference dependence, produced by chronic oral consumption.