TITLE:
Amphetamine Conditioned Place Preference in Planarians
AUTHORS:
Robert B. Raffa, Sumira Shah, Christopher S. Tallarida, Scott M. Rawls
KEYWORDS:
Amphetamine; Conditioned Place Preference; Drug Abuse; Planaria
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Behavioral and Brain Science,
Vol.3 No.1,
February
27,
2013
ABSTRACT: Meth- and other amphetamines currently present major drug-abuse
concerns. However, the demonstration and study of abuse-related behaviors
expressed in animal models is expensive and time-consuming. We previously
reported a novel model of conditioned place preference (CPP), which is a
standard tool in abuse research, in invertebrates (planarians). In the present
study, planarians were tested for light/dark preference, then exposed for 5 min
to either d-amphetamine or vehicle
(water) in light and then re-tested for place preference (light vs dark). The
planarians’ natural strong preference for dark (15 of 16) was significantly
altered by amphetamine experience, such that 12 of 16 preferred the unnatural,
but amphetamine-associated, light side. These results extend the demonstration
of CPP to this invertebrate species and provide further
evidence in support of this model to testing/screening amphetamine-like and
possibly other drugs of abuse.