There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.
Abstract
In this study, we investigated behavioral factors underlying conditioned place preference
(CPP) induced by social interaction in adolescent rats. We found that the magnitude
of socially-induced CPP depended on the social motivation of the animals and on the
amount of training. After extinction, socially-induced CPP could be reinstated by
a single reconditioning session. Treatment with methylphenidate, which disrupts social
play behavior in adolescent rats, but not social exploratory behavior, prevented the
development of socially-induced CPP. Interestingly, methylphenidate by itself induced
CPP. These data demonstrate that: 1. social interaction is rewarding in adolescent
rats; 2. appetitive and mnemonic factors influence the development of socially-induced
CPP; 3. comparable to drug-induced CPP, socially-induced CPP can be extinguished and
reinstated; 4. social play is likely to be the most rewarding aspect of social interaction
in adolescent rats; 5. social context influences the subjective effects of methylphenidate.