EFFECTS OF PEDUNCULOPONTINE TEGMENTAL NUCLEUS LESIONS ON RESPONDING FOR INTRAVENOUS HEROIN UNDER DIFFERENT SCHEDULES OF REINFORCEMENT

The pedunculopontine tegmental nucleus (PPTg) is believed to play impo rtant roles in reward and learning. We examined the effect of PPTg les ions (0.5 mu l of 0.1 M NMDA injected bilaterally over 10 min) on the learning of an operant response for opiate reward. In 14 adult male Lo ng-Evans rats, bilateral lesions of the PPTg disrupted the acquisition of responding for intravenous heroin (0.1 mg/kg infused at a rate of 0.25 ml/28 sec) on a fixed ratio-1 (FR-1) schedule of reinforcement. T he 12 remaining lesioned animals increased their heroin intake over th e acquisition sessions but did not reach the response levels of sham-l esioned animals on the 15th and final session. The sham- and PPTg-lesi oned animals that learned the FR-I task exhibited similar patterns of responding during extinction and reacquisition sessions. When tested o n a progressive ratio (PR) schedule of reinforcement, however, PPTg-le sioned animals had lower break points than sham-lesioned animals. Asym metric lesions, which destroyed the majority of the nucleus in one hem isphere only, did not produce any behavioral deficits. Rats that were lesioned after training also did not show deficits in responding under either FR or PR schedules. These findings suggest that PPTg lesions r educe the rewarding effect of opiates but do not disrupt the ability e ither to learn an operant response or the response requirements of a P R schedule.