Aversive conditioning

The disinhibitory effects of 5-HT3 receptor antagonists are now well documented [29, 30]. These compounds act to restore normal behaviour to animals in conditions which are mildly aversive, such as a novel brightly lit test area. Such effects may be predictive of anxiolytic activity. An example of such disinhibition is the effect of ondansetron in the rat social interaction test in which the level of interaction between two rats is measured under certain defined conditions [29]. In non-aversive conditions this type of behaviour is quite marked, but it is suppressed in novel highly illuminated conditions. Ondansetron overcomes this suppression, as do known anxiolytics such as diazepam. 

The question remains, are the nicotine withdrawal phenomena in the rodent models sufficiently aversive to exert a motivational effect This can be tested by whether rodents will avoid an enviromnent associated with precipitated nicotine abstinence syndrome, in comparison with an enviromnent associated only with a saline injection. Significant place aversion conditioned to nicotine withdrawal has been repeatedly observed in rodent models (Balfour 2002 Goktalay et al. 2006 Malin et al. 2006 Suzuki et al. 1996 Watkins et al. 2000). 

A long line of investigations has tried aversion conditioning for mammalian predators, particularly coyotes. Traditionally, lithium chloride is either injected... 

Campbell, D. L. (1987). Potential for aversive conditioning in forest animal damage control. In Proceedings of a Symposium on Animal Damage Management in Pacific Northwest Forests, March, 1987, pp. 117-118. 

Campbell, D. L. and Evans, J. (1989). Aversive conditioning with thiram to reduce mountain beaver damage to Douglas-fir seedlings. Northwest Science 63,70. 

Hastings, B. C. and Gilbert, B. K. (1980). Aversive conditioning of black bears in the backcountry of Yosemite National Park. Proceedings of the Second Conference on Scientific Research inNational Parks, vol. 7, pp. 294-303. 

Murphy CA, Pezze M, Feldon J, Heidbreder C (2000) Differential involvement of dopamine in the shell and core of the nucleus accumbens in the expression of latent inhibition to an aversively conditioned stimulus. 

Pezze MA, Heidbreder CA, Feldon J, Murphy CA (2001) Selective responding of nucleus accumbens core and shell dopamine to aversively conditioned contextual and discrete stimuli. Neuroscience 705 91-102. 

Wilkinson LS, Humby T, Killcross AS, Torres EM, Everitt BJ, Robbins TW (1998) Dissociations in dopamine release in medial prefrontal cortex and ventral striatum during the acquisition and extinction of classical aversive conditioning in the rat. Eur J Neurosci 70 1019-1026. 

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