Discriminative stimulus properties of cocaine, norcocaine, and N-allylnorcocaine

Pharmacol Biochem Behav. 1981 Jan;14(1):81-3. doi: 10.1016/0091-3057(81)90106-4.

Abstract

A discriminative stimulus paradigm was employed to train eight male and female Wistar rats to discriminate 5.0 mg/kg cocaine HCl from 2.0 ml/kg saline. Subjects responded in a two bar operant chamber on an FR 30 schedule for food reinforcement. All sessions followed a 10 minute pretreatment with either saline, the training dose of cocaine, four probe doses of cocaine HCl (1.0, 2.5, 7.5, 10 mg/kg), four probe doses of norcocaine (1.0, 2.5, 5.0, 7.5 mg/kg) or four probe doses of N-allylnorcocaine (5.0, 7.5, 10, 20 mg/kg). All probe doses were treated using an extinction procedure. The three highest doses of cocaine generalized to cocaine while the 1.0 mg/kg dose of cocaine generalized to saline. The two highest doses of norcocaine generalized to cocaine while the 2.5 mg/kg dose of norcocaine resulted in 57% responding on the cocaine lever with the 1.0 mg/kg dose generalizing to saline. Only the highest dose of N-allylnorcocaine was found to generalize to cocaine with the intermediate doses resulting in an intermediate level of responding occurring on the cocaine lever. The 5.0 mg/kg dose of N-allylnorcocaine generalized to saline.

Publication types

  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Cocaine / analogs & derivatives*
  • Cocaine / pharmacology*
  • Female
  • Generalization, Stimulus / drug effects
  • Male
  • Prejudice / drug effects*
  • Rats

Substances

  • norcocaine
  • N-allylnorcocaine
  • Cocaine