The present study was designed to assess the influence of magnesium (Mg) as MgCl(2) (10 or 40 mg/kg b.wt/day i.p.) and of its interaction with morphine on the reward system (RS) in Wistar rats. For this purpose, we evaluated conditioning place preference on a 12 day experiment schedule. Our data show that MgCl(2) (10 mg/kg b.wt/day) has moderate but significant effects on stimulating RS (increa...

The highlight for February is from Chris Cunningham of the Department of Behavioral Neuroscience at the Oregon Health & Science University. In Dr. Cunningham’s highlight, he describes his initial introduction to the general field of taste aversion learning and the specific direction he has taken over the past 30 years. As he describes, the majority of his work on aversion learning has focused o...

The ability of the dopamine D1 antagonist, SCH 23390 (0.01, 0.1, 1.0, 2.0 mg/kg) or the D2 antagonist, metoclopramide (1.0, 10.0, 20.0 mg/kg), to block the establishment of place conditioning with either the nonselective dopamine agonist, amphetamine (2.0 mg/kg), the D1 agonist, SKF 38393 (10.0 mg/kg), or the D2 agonist, quinpirole (1.0 mg/kg), was evaluated in rats. The experimental protocol c...