Experiment: Intracranial Self Administration (SA)

Ventral Tegmental Area (VTA)

1. Morphine (50 ng/5nl) self-administered into VTA.

Welzl H, Kuhn G, Huston JP
Self-administration of small amounts of morphine through glass micropipettes into the ventral tegmental area of the rat. Neuropharmacology. 1989 Oct;28(10):1017-23. Abstract

2. Morphine, DAMGO and DPDPE self-administered into VTA. Effective dose for establishing and maintaining lever pressing was much lower for DAMGO, selective mu agonist, compared to morphine and the selective delta agonist DPDPE.

Devine DP, Wise RA
Self-administration of morphine, DAMGO, and DPDPE into the ventral tegmental area of rats. J Neurosci. 1994 Apr;14(4):1978-84. Abstract.

Nucleus Accumbens (NAc)

1. Olds ME
Reinforcing effects of morphine in the nucleus accumbens. Brain Res. 1982 Apr 15;237(2):429-40. Abstract.

2. Goeders NE, Lane JD, Smith JE
Self-administration of methionine enkephalin into the nucleus accumbens. Pharmacol Biochem Behav. 1984 Mar;20(3):451-5. Abstract.

Ventral Tegmental Area (VTA), Nucleus Accumbens (NAc), Medial Prefrontal Cortex (mPFC), Lateral Hypothalamus (LH)

Mu Opioid agonist (DAMGO) injected into VTA produced CPP. DAMGO had no effect in NAc mPFC or lateral hypothalamus, whereas Kappa agonists produced CPAversion in all three areas. Mu and Kappa agonists (U50,488H) injected into Nigra and Caudate-Putamen had no effect.

Bals-Kubik R, Ableitner A, Herz A, Shippenberg TS
Neuroanatomical sites mediating the motivational effects of opioids as mapped by the conditioned place preference paradigm in rats. J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 1993 Jan;264(1):489-95. Abstract.

Nucleus Accumbens (NAc) (also see above), Lateral Hypothalamus (LH) (also see above), Periaqueductal gray (PAG), Amygdala (Amyg)

CPP with microinjections of morphine into NAc, lateral hypothalamus and Peri aqueductal gray (PAG). No CPP with microinjections of morphine into amygdala, Caudate-Putamen or n. ambiguus.

van der Kooy D, Mucha RF, O'Shaughnessy M, Bucenieks P
Reinforcing effects of brain microinjections of morphine revealed by conditioned place preference. Brain Res. 1982 Jul 8;243(1):107-17. Abstract.