Source Paper
Altered Responsiveness to Cocaine and Increased Immobility in the Forced Swim Test Associated with Elevated cAMP Response Element-Binding Protein Expression in Nucleus Accumbens
Andrea M. Pliakas, Richard R. Carlson, Rachael L. Neve, Christine Konradi, Eric J. Nestler et al.
Journal of Neuroscience • 2001
Cocaine Place Conditioning
Objective: Assessment of cocaine reward and aversion by measuring time spent in drug-paired environments following HSV-CREB or HSV-mCREB treatment in the nucleus accumbens
This is a Cocaine Place Conditioning protocol using rat as the model organism. The procedure involves 7 procedural steps, 2 equipment items, 4 materials. Extracted from a 2001 paper published in Journal of Neuroscience.
Model and subjects
rat • Not specified • Not specified • Not specified • Not specified • Not specified
Study window
Estimated timing pending
Core workflow
Viral vector administration • Place conditioning with cocaine • Measure time in drug-paired environment
Primary readouts
- Time spent in cocaine-paired environment (indicator of reward or aversion)
- Immobility in forced swim test (indicator of depression-like behavior)
- CREB function in nucleus accumbens following forced swim test exposure
Key equipment and reagents
Use this page as an execution guide, then fall back to the source paper whenever you need exact exclusions, dosing details, or assay-specific caveats.
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- Verify the animal model, intervention setup, and collection timepoints against the source paper.
- Check that every direct vendor link matches the exact specification your lab plans to run.
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- Jump to Experimental Context for readouts, data shape, and analysis flow before planning downstream analysis.
Protocol Steps
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Viral vector administration
Administer HSV-CREB or HSV-mCREB vectors to elevate or block CREB expression in nucleus accumbens
Note: Two treatment groups: HSV-CREB (elevated CREB expression) and HSV-mCREB (blocked CREB function)
View evidence from paper
“we used herpes simplex virus (HSV) vectors to elevate CREB expression in this region or to overexpress a dominant-negative mutant CREB (mCREB)”
Place conditioning with cocaine
Conduct place conditioning studies where rats are exposed to environments paired with cocaine administration
Note: Drug-environment pairings were varied to coincide with either early or late effects of cocaine
View evidence from paper
“Rats treated with HSV-mCREB in place conditioning studies spent more time in environments associated with cocaine”
Measure time in drug-paired environment
Measure and record time spent in cocaine-associated environments as indicator of reward or aversion
Note: Increased time indicates increased cocaine reward; decreased time indicates increased cocaine aversion
View evidence from paper
“Rats treated with HSV-mCREB in place conditioning studies spent more time in environments associated with cocaine, indicating increased cocaine reward”
Forced swim test
Place rats in forced swim test to measure immobility as indicator of depression-like behavior
Note: Elevated CREB expression increased immobility; mCREB decreased immobility
View evidence from paper
“we examined how altered CREB function in the NAc affects behavior in the forced swim test (FST)”
Measure immobility in forced swim test
Quantify immobility behavior during forced swim test as measure of depression-like symptoms
Note: Elevated CREB expression increased immobility, opposite to antidepressant effects; mCREB decreased immobility, similar to antidepressants
View evidence from paper
“Elevated CREB expression increased immobility in the FST, an effect that is opposite to that caused by standard antidepressants”
Administer kappa opioid receptor antagonist
Treat HSV-CREB and HSV-mCREB rats with nor-Binaltorphimine to test dynorphin contribution to immobility
Note: Nor-Binaltorphimine decreased immobility in both treatment groups
View evidence from paper
“the κ opioid receptor antagonist nor-Binaltorphimine decreased immobility in HSV-CREB- and HSV-mCREB-treated rats”
Measure CREB function following forced swim test exposure
Assess CREB function in nucleus accumbens after rats are exposed to forced swim test
Note: Forced swim test exposure dramatically increased CREB function in nucleus accumbens
View evidence from paper
“Exposure to the FST itself dramatically increased CREB function in the NAc”