Animal behavioral paradigms used to explore the positive and negative reinforcing actions of alcohol and other drugs. (A) Oral alcohol self-administration paradigm, in which the animal is trained to press a lever to obtain alcohol instead of water. Rats will readily self-administer enough alcohol in daily 30-minute sessions to become mildly intoxicated. (B) Intracranial self-stimulation paradigm, in which the animal is trained to spin a wheel to receive a current through electrodes implanted in the brain. (C) Place-conditioning paradigm, in which injection of a drug is paired repeatedly with one environment and injection of a nondrug control solution (e.g., saline) is paired repeatedly with a different environment. The animal subsequently is allowed access to both environments in the drug-free state, and the amount of time spent in each environment is recorded. A greater amount of time spent in the drug-paired environment indicates a positively reinforcing drug effect.

Source: Roberts, A.J., and Koob, G.F. The neurobiology of addiction: An overview. Alcohol Health & Research World 21(2):101–106, 1997.

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Updated: October 2000