Renewal of sucrose-seeking behavior in rats: Role of D(2) dopamine receptors.

The present study characterized renewal of sucrose-seeking behavior in rats (Experiment 1). The role of the dopamine subtype-2 (D(2)) receptors in mediating renewal of sucrose-seeking behavior also was examined (Experiment 2). Rats were trained to respond for sucrose pellets (45mg each) on a fixed-ratio 25 (Experiments 1 and 2) schedule of reinforcement in Context A. Following acquisition, rats underwent extinction and 4 renewal tests in Contexts B and A, respectively. In Experiment 2, rats were pretreated with vehicle or the D(2) dopamine receptor antagonist eticlopride (5, 10, 20, or 40microg/kg) 30min prior to the first renewal test session. A follow-up experiment (Experiment 3) examined the effect of a high eticlopride dose (40microg/kg) on locomotor activity. Renewal of sucrose-seeking behavior persisted for 3 sessions. Eticlopride dose-dependently blocked renewal of sucrose-seeking behavior without suppressing locomotor activity, implicating a role of D(2) dopamine receptors in mediating renewal of sucrose-seeking behavior.