Fixed-interval schedule of cocaine reinforcement: effect of dose and infusion duration

Abstract

Rhesus monkeys were trained on a fixed-interval 9-min limited-hold 3-min schedule of intravenous cocaine reinforcement. A 15-min timeout followed each reinforcement or limited-hold expiration. An identical schedule of food reinforcement was interspersed in the session to assess rate-modifying effects of the drug infusions not specific to drug reinforcement. In one experiment, response rate for cocaine reinforcement was shown to be a positive function of reinforcement magnitude for a dose range from 0 to 800 ug/kg/inj. At these doses, there was little effect on food reinforced responding except at the highest dose, where responding decreased. Results of the second experiment indicated that increasing the duration of the cocaine infusion produced a change in response rate similar to decreasing unit dose. The response rate change for a given increase in infustion duration was less at a unit dose of 400 ug/kg than at 200 ug/kg.