EFFECTS OF ACUTE AND CHRONIC FLUNITRAZEPAM ON DELAY DISCOUNTING IN PIGEONS

• Published in: Journal of the experimental analysis of behavior Vol. 95; no. 2; pp. 163 - 174
• Main Authors: Eppolito, Amy K., France, Charles P., Gerak, Lisa R.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.03.2011; Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior; Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, Inc
• Subjects: Addictive behaviors; Aggressiveness; Animals; Anti-Anxiety Agents - pharmacology; Association Learning - drug effects; Behavioral Science Research; Birds; Choice Behavior - drug effects; Columbidae; Conceptual Tempo; Conditioning, Operant - drug effects; delay discounting; Delay of Gratification; Drug Abuse; Drug Therapy; Drug Use; Experimental Psychology; fixed delays; flunitrazepam; Flunitrazepam - pharmacology; Food; Impulsive Behavior - psychology; Inhibition (Psychology); Injections, Intramuscular; key peck; Laboratory animals; Motivation - drug effects; Narcotics; Operant Conditioning; Outcomes of Treatment; Patients; pigeons; Reinforcement; Reinforcement Schedule; Responses; Rodents; Substance Abuse; Substance abuse treatment; Time Perception - drug effects; tolerance; fixed delays; key peck; pigeons; delay discounting; tolerance; flunitrazepam
• ISSN: 0022-5002; 1938-3711
• DOI: 10.1901/jeab.2011.95-163

Delay to delivery of a reinforcer can decrease responding for that reinforcer and increase responding for smaller reinforcers that are available concurrently and delivered without delay; acute administration of drugs can alter responding for large, delayed reinforcers, although the impact of chronic treatment on delay discounting is not well understood. In this experiment, the effects of repeated administration of the benzodiazepine flunitrazepam were studied in 6 pigeons responding on one key to receive food that was delivered immediately and on a second key to receive a larger amount of food that was delivered following delays which increased across a single session. Pigeons responded predominantly for the large reinforcer when there were no delays and when delays were short; however, as delays increased, responding for the large reinforcer decreased. Acutely, flunitrazepam (0.32, 1.0 and 3.2 mg/kg) dose‐dependently increased responding for the large reinforcer, shifting the discounting curve rightward and upward. Repeated administration of flunitrazepam (0.32, 1.0 and 3.2 mg/kg, each for six sessions, separated by one session during which vehicle was administered) did not markedly alter its effects on responding for the large reinforcer, indicating that the development of tolerance to this effect of flunitrazepam is modest under these conditions.