Review Article
Investigating Methamphetamine Craving Using the Extinction-Reinstatement Model in the Rat
| Peter R. Kufahl and M. Foster Olive* | |
| Department of Psychology, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ85287, USA | |
| Corresponding Author : | M. Foster Olive, Ph.D. Department of Psychology, Arizona State University PO Box 871104, Tempe, AZ85287-1104, USA Tel: (480) 727-5550 Fax: (480) 965-8544 E-mail: foster.olive@asu.edu |
| Received September 09, 2011; Accepted November 10, 2011; Published November 15, 2011 | |
| Citation: Kufahl PR, Olive MF (2011) Investigating Methamphetamine Craving Using the Extinction-Reinstatement Model in the Rat. J Addict Res Ther S1:003. doi:10.4172/2155-6105.S1-003 | |
| Copyright: © 2011 Kufahl PR, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. | |
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Abstract
Like all other drugs of abuse, the primary therapeutic objective for treating methamphetamine addiction research is the maintenance of abstinence and prevention of relapse to habitual drug-taking. Compounds with the potential to prevent relapse are often investigated in rats that are trained to self-administer intravenous methamphetamine, subjected to extinction training where responding is no longer reinforced, and then given tests for reinstatement of drug-seeking behavior triggered by methamphetamine injections or re-exposure to drug-paired cues. Experimental compounds are administered to the animals prior to the reinstatement tests to evaluate their potential for attenuating or preventing drug-seeking behavior. This article describes the common procedures of the extinction-reinstatement model in studies of this type, and identifies areas of discrepancy. This is followed by a comprehensive overview of the currently published anti-reinstatement effects of pharmacological compounds, classified by the most relevant neurological systems associated with these compounds. The article concludes with a brief discussion of how the study of antireinstatement effects can be expanded to further verify existing positive results or to find novel neurobiological targets.
