Conditioned Place Preference

Overview

Conditioned Place Preference (CPP) and Conditioned Place Aversion (CPA) are techniques used to study unbiased place preference/aversion in mice and rats. Place conditioning is a form of Pavlovian conditioning and is used to measure a preference or aversion to an experience (e.g. drugs, amphetamines, heroin, etc). A typical protocol involves three (3) phases.

Phase 1 is habituation. Phase 2 is conditioning of an association between the drug and a tactile and/or visual cue. Phase 3 is the final test where the animal is offered a choice between the drug associated cue and a neutral cue.

If the drug induces a place preference, then the animal will spend more time close to the drug associated cue. If the drug induces place aversion, then the animal will spend less time close to the drug associated cue.

The Test Chamber

The CPP Frame is 32″ L x16″ W x 12″ with 24 Photo beam sensors in Horizontal X and 12 Photo beam sensors in the Vertical Z axes. The arena (25″Lx12″Wx12″H)is divided into three sections. Section 1 (10″ L x 12″ W x 12″ H) has Horizontal white stripes, Section 2 (5″ L x 12″ W x 12″ H) is solid white (no stripes) , Section 3 (10″ L x 12″ W x 12″ H)has Vertical white stripes. Varied floor textures are included as tactile cues for each section. Removable partitions are provided to segregate animal within a particular section. In a typical protocol, the drug is administered and the animal is confined to the drug assigned compartment for a fixed period. Animal is subsequently placed in the middle/neutral section of the apparatus .After a short delay, the partitions are removed so that the animal is free to move throughout the cage. At this point, the animal can exhibit place preference or place aversion by moving towards or away from the drug assigned compartment.

Data

• The CPP system can measure locomotor activity as well as place preference/aversion and includes the following variables for each of the 3 compartments:
• Number of Entries
• Total Time Spent
• Horizontal Activity
• Vertical Activity
• Total Distance Traveled
• Movement Time
• Vertical Time
• Stereotypy Time
• Number of Stereotypy

Compounds that produce CPP

• acetalyehyde
• amphetamine
• apomorphine
• beta-pheylethlamine
• clonidine
• diazepam
• eurotensin
• enkephalins
• etorphine
• heroine
• levarphanol
• methylphenidae
• morphine

Ineffective Compounds – CPP

• desipramine
• dextrorphan
• haloperidol
• hexamethanim
• lithium chloride
• mecamylamine
• malozone
• pimozine
• saline