Conditioned Tolerance In Lab Rats

This study conducted by Charles R. Crow, Riley E. Hinson, and Shepard Sigel focused on conditioned tolerance to the hypothermic effects of alcohol in lab rats. Prior to this, research tested this conditioned tolerance to a few of moprhine’s effects and found that the environment where the rat receives the drug does in fact influence tolerance to drug effects. This current study conducted two separate experiments to gain insight into the importance of environmental stimuli in the conditioning process. The rats used in the experiment all had the same pre testing procedure therefore these results are reliable. By understanding conditioned tolerance in lab rats, we can further use this information to understand the tolerance a drug addict develops with their own habitual drug using environment. …show more content…
Then, that group received the placebo injections in the opposite. Rats that had received the ethanol in the designated room became more tolerant to the hypothermic effects after numerous injections. Meanwhile, there was a large hypothermic response in the rats that received the ethanol in a different environment from the one where they had previously received the numerous doses of ethanol. People hear tolerance and they immediately assume it refers to a diminished experience of some drug effect after numerous doses of a drug. Prior to this class, dose tolerance was the only form of tolerance I had learned about. Not only is there tolerance to drug effects, but there is conditioned withdrawl and tolerance depending on environment; as seen in this study. Lastly, in this experiment the rats both received the same amount of ethanol doses but their response to the drug varied depending on if they were in a familiar or unfamiliar