Intra-Accumbens Amphetamine Microinjection with Cue-Elicited Lever Pressing Test
Objective: To determine whether intra-accumbens amphetamine enhances cue-elicited instrumental lever pressing for sucrose reward in the absence of reinforcement, testing the role of dopamine in incentive salience versus hedonic impact
This is a Intra-Accumbens Amphetamine Microinjection with Cue-Elicited Lever Pressing Test protocol using rat as the model organism. The procedure involves 5 procedural steps, 3 equipment items, 3 materials. Extracted from a 2000 paper published in Journal of Neuroscience.
Model and subjects
rat • Not specified • unknown • Not specified • Not specified
Study window
Estimated timing pending
Core workflow
Lever press training • Pavlovian cue conditioning • Bilateral microinjection
Primary readouts
- Cue-elicited lever pressing rate (primary measure of incentive salience/wanting)
- Amphetamine dose-response relationship on lever pressing
- Taste reactivity patterns (hedonic impact/liking of sucrose)
- Comparison of wanting versus liking effects
Key equipment and reagents
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Protocol Steps
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Lever press training
Rats were trained to press one of two levers to obtain sucrose pellets
Note: Initial instrumental conditioning phase
View evidence from paper
“Rats were first trained to press one of two levers to obtain sucrose pellets”
Pavlovian cue conditioning
Rats were separately conditioned to associate a 30 second light cue with free sucrose pellets
Note: Separate from instrumental training; establishes cue-reward association
View evidence from paper
“They were separately conditioned to associate a Pavlovian cue (30 sec light) with free sucrose pellets”
Bilateral microinjection
On test days, rats received bilateral microinjection of vehicle or amphetamine into the nucleus accumbens shell
Note: Four dose conditions tested: 0.0, 2.0, 10.0, or 20.0 µg/0.5 µl
View evidence from paper
“On test days, the rats received bilateral microinjection of intra-accumbens vehicle or amphetamine (0.0, 2.0, 10.0, or 20.0 µg/0.5 µl)”
Cue-elicited lever pressing test
Lever pressing was tested in the absence of any reinforcement contingency while the Pavlovian cue was freely presented at intervals throughout the session
Note: No sucrose reinforcement or cue reinforcement during test; measures pure conditioned incentive motivation
View evidence from paper
“lever pressing was tested in the absence of any reinforcement contingency, while the Pavlovian cue alone was freely presented at intervals throughout the session”
Taste reactivity measurement
Hedonic impact of sucrose was measured using taste reactivity to assess positive hedonic reaction patterns
Note: Conducted to determine if amphetamine increases sucrose liking versus wanting
View evidence from paper
“Using the taste reactivity measure of hedonic impact, it was shown that intra-accumbens amphetamine failed to increase positive hedonic reaction patterns elicited by sucrose”