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Nicotine Serves As A Feature-Positive Modulator Of Pavlovian Appetitive Conditioning In Rats, M. I. Palmatier, J. L. Peterson, J. L. Wilkinson, Rick A. Bevins

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

The present experiments examined whether a nicotine state could set the occasion for a pairing between visual cues and a rewarding outcome in rats. Following nicotine administration, presentation of a conditional stimulus (CS; light-on) was followed by brief access to a sucrose solution. When saline was administered, the same CS was presented but was not followed by any consequence. In Experiment 1, two groups assessed whether rats could acquire this Pavlovian feature-positive discrimination via different training procedures. An anticipatory food-seeking conditioned response (CR) developed during the CS on nicotine sessions but not on saline sessions in both groups. In Experiment …