THE VENTRAL PALLIDUM AREA IS INVOLVED IN THE ACQUISITION BUT NOT EXPRESSION OF THE AMPHETAMINE CONDITIONED PLACE PREFERENCE

The present study examined the roles of the ventral pallidum area, one output system of the nucleus accumbens, in the acquisition and expres sion of the amphetamine conditioned place preference (CPP). Pre-condit ioning NMDA lesions of the ventral pallidum area completely abolished the acquisition of the CPP. By contrast, post-conditioning NMDA lesion s of the same area had no effect on the expression of the CPP. These r esults suggest that the ventral pallidum area mediates some process th at involves the primary, but not conditioned rewarding effects of amph etamine.