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Drug-induced conditioned place preference and aversion in mice

Nature Protocols volume 1, pages 1662–1670 (2006)Cite this article

Abstract

This protocol describes the equipment and methods used to establish conditioned place preference (CPP) or aversion (CPA). Place conditioning is a form of Pavlovian conditioning routinely used to measure the rewarding or aversive motivational effects of objects or experiences (e.g., abused drugs). Here, we present a place conditioning procedure that has been used extensively to study the motivational effects of ethanol and other abused drugs in mice. This protocol involves three phases: (i) habituation (or a pretest), (ii) conditioning of an association between the drug and a tactile or visual stimulus and (iii) a test that offers a choice between the drug-associated cue and a neutral cue. If the drug has motivational significance, mice will spend significantly more time (CPP) or less time (CPA) in proximity to the drug-associated cue. Potential problems in the design and interpretation of place conditioning studies are discussed. A typical experiment lasts 2 weeks.

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Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3: Mean seconds per minute (+s.e.m.) spent on the grid floor during the 30-min post-extinction test session.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Laura Summers Bax for assistance in data collection. We also thank the many research assistants, graduate students and postdoctoral fellows who contributed to the evolution of our place conditioning model over the last 18 years. Development of this protocol was supported by NIH-NIAAA grants AA007702, AA010760, AA007468 and AA016041.

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  1. Department of Behavioral Neuroscience and Portland Alcohol Research Center, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, 97239-3098, Oregon, USA

    Christopher L Cunningham, Christina M Gremel & Peter A Groblewski

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Correspondence to Christopher L Cunningham.

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Cunningham, C., Gremel, C. & Groblewski, P. Drug-induced conditioned place preference and aversion in mice. Nat Protoc 1, 1662–1670 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/nprot.2006.279

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