Date of Completion
2025
Document Type
Honors College Thesis
Department
Neuroscience
Thesis Type
Honors College
First Advisor
James M. Stafford
Second Advisor
Eric A. Thrailkill
Keywords
Alcohol self-administration, noncontingent reinforcement, operant self-administration, mouse
Abstract
Reinstatement is the increase of an extinguished behavior that occurs when the reinforcing outcome or outcome-paired cues are reencountered. Previous findings with rats suggest that the delivery of noncontingent food reinforcers during extinction can diminish reinstatement. Given the importance of reinstatement to understanding relapse of drug self-administration, the present study extended these findings to drug rewards for the first time. Using alcohol as a reinforcer, we investigated whether noncontingent alcohol presentations during the extinction of alcohol-seeking behavior would influence the reinstatement of alcohol-seeking. Male and female mice were trained to lever press for alcohol (ethanol 20% vol/vol), then extinguished with either a conventional extinction protocol or given random noncontingent presentations of alcohol. Noncontingent alcohol deliveries during extinction resulted in fewer alcohol lever presses during the reinstatement test. Alcohol, or alcohol cues, during extinction may obstruct reinstatement triggered by subsequent exposures by forming a relationship with extinction learning to reduce the drug-seeking behavior.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Szpila, Cate F., "Noncontingent Alcohol Deliveries During Extinction Weaken Reinstatement of Alcohol Seeking in Mice" (2025). UVM Patrick Leahy Honors College Senior Theses. 759.
https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/hcoltheses/759