Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2-2026
Publisher
Springer
Source Publication
Psychopharmacology
Source ISSN
0033-3158
Original Item ID
DOI: 10.1007/s00213-026-07012-z
Abstract
Rationale
Maladaptive drug choice is a defining component of substance use disorders; whereby drug misuse persists despite adverse consequences. A goal of behavioral interventions, such as contingency management programs, is to promote reallocation of behavior towards adaptive pursuits. The neurobiological mechanisms that govern behavioral reallocation in the context of ongoing cocaine use remain poorly understood.
Objective
Here, we demonstrate a cocaine versus sucrose choice paradigm in male and female rats using a novel format that dissuades exclusive sucrose or cocaine choice by offering sucrose pellets on a progressive ratio, while cocaine infusions are offered at a low, fixed ratio. Maintenance of both drug and non-drug choice will allow for the investigation of behavioral reallocation following environmental or pharmacological manipulations.
Materials and methods
In experiment 1, rats were trained to perform the choice task and were tested under conditions of acute food restriction followed by cocaine non-reward (extinction). In experiment 2, rats were trained to perform the choice task and then subject to a cocaine punishment contingency, whereby cocaine choice was punished by an aversive white noise (AWN).
Results
Rats display cocaine dose- and sucrose price-dependent choice preference with no apparent sex differences. However, after either 24 h of food restriction or removal of the cocaine reinforcer, male rats reallocate behavior towards sucrose, while female rats do not. Likewise, AWN-punished cocaine choice drives reallocation towards sucrose in male rats, but not females.
Conclusion
Our data suggest that male and female rats exhibit unique reallocation strategies in response to changing contingencies.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Nowak, David B.; Estes, Mary K.; Schultz, Bailey E.; Wheeler, Robert A.; and Mantsch, John R., "Assessing Behavioral Reallocation After Acute Environmental Manipulations Using an Asymmetric Cocaine Versus Sucrose Choice Task in Male and Female Rats" (2026). Biomedical Sciences Faculty Research and Publications. 277.
https://epublications.marquette.edu/biomedsci_fac/277
Comments
Published version. Psychopharmacology (2026). Online before print. DOI. © Springer. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, which permits any non-commercial use, sharing, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if you modified the licensed material. You do not have permission under this licence to share adapted material derived from this article or parts of it. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.