Conditioned place preference

Conditioned Place Preference (CPP) is a form of Pavlovian conditioning used to measure the motivational effects of objects or experiences. This experimental approach is often used in animal testing to assess the effectiveness of potential drug addiction treatments.

Overview

In a typical CPP experiment, an animal is conditioned to associate a specific environment with a positive or negative stimulus. This is usually achieved by repeatedly pairing the environment (the conditioned stimulus) with the positive or negative stimulus (the unconditioned stimulus). After conditioning, the animal is given free access to both the previously paired and unpaired environments. If the animal spends more time in the environment previously paired with the positive stimulus, this is taken as evidence of a conditioned place preference. Conversely, if the animal spends more time in the environment previously paired with the negative stimulus, this is taken as evidence of a conditioned place aversion.

Applications

CPP is widely used in neuroscience and pharmacology to study the rewarding and aversive effects of drugs. It can also be used to study the effects of natural rewards, such as food or social interaction, and aversive conditions, such as pain or stress.

Methodology

The methodology of CPP involves three phases: pre-conditioning, conditioning, and post-conditioning. In the pre-conditioning phase, the animal is allowed to explore all compartments of the apparatus to determine any initial preference. During the conditioning phase, the animal is repeatedly exposed to the positive or negative stimulus in the associated environment. In the post-conditioning phase, the animal is again allowed to freely explore all compartments, and the time spent in each is recorded.

Limitations

While CPP is a powerful tool for studying the motivational effects of stimuli, it has several limitations. These include the potential for confounding factors such as stress or novelty to influence the results, and the difficulty of disentangling the effects of the conditioned and unconditioned stimuli.

See also

• Operant conditioning chamber
• Behavioral neuroscience
• Drug addiction

External links

• Scholarpedia article on Conditioned Place Preference