ENHANCED COCAINE SELF-ADMINISTRATION IN ADULT-RATS PRENATALLY EXPOSEDTO COCAINE

Rats that had been prenatally exposed to either cocaine or saline were examined as adults using continuous reinforcement (FR1) cocaine self- administration. Initially these rats were water-deprived and trained t o bar-press for water; no differences across prenatal treatments were observed during this training phase. After complete rehydration and im plantation of an intravenous cannula into the external jugular vein, a nimals were introduced to cocaine self-administration with a nocturnal and subsequent 3 h exposure. During daily test sessions rats were all owed to self-administer cocaine for 1 h/day. Prenatal cocaine exposure led to a marked and stable enhancement of the rates of self-administr ation for up to 13 days, the longest time point examined. These result s suggest that prenatal cocaine exposure can alter cocaine reinforceme nt in adult animals.