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Alexander BK, Coambs RB, Hadaway PF. 
“The effect of housing and gender on morphine self-administration in rats”. 
Psychopharmacology (Berl). 1978 Jul 18;58(2):175-9.
Abstract
To determine the effect of housing conditions on morphine self-administration, rats isolated in standard laboratory cages and rats living socially in a large open box (8.8 m2) were given morphine in solution (0.5 mg/ml) as their only source of fluid for 57 days. They were then exposed to a series of 3-day cycles previously shown by Nichols et al. (1956) to increase self-administration of morphine in caged rats. On morphine/water choice days late in the period of forced consumption, between the Nichols cycles, and during a subsequent period of abstinence, the isolated rats drank significantly more morphine solution than the social rats, and the females drank significantly more morphine solution than the males. During the four choice days in the Nichols Cycle Period the isolated rats increased their consumption, but the socially housed animals decreased theirs.

rat park
Notes # : rat park
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earth
Jun 12, 2013 22:36
Original Rat Park Experiment #

This is the original "Rat Park" experiment. Watershed work, yet not really incorporated into mainstream rat research. Despite showing that rats self-administer drugs very differently based on their living conditions, most all future research continued to pretend that rats trapped and isolated in tiny plastic boxes were good models for human ingestion of psychoactive drugs.

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rat_Park

Also, a cartoon version www.stuartmcmillen.com/comics_en/rat-park/.
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