Ethanol Induced Conditioned Place Preference in Japanese Quail: Pilot Study
Corbett, Leah N*; DiCarlo, Jamie I*;
Beers, Danika M* Rice, Beth Ann*
* = Slippery Rock University

SRU
Psychology

DISCUSSION

The paired sample t-test with the subjects that received ethanol found a significant difference between the

• It was hypothesized that the
behavior of the quail would be
comparable to that of humans
because they are visually
orientated and have, similar to
humans, been shown to develop
associations between cues
predictive of rewards. However,
there was no significant
difference between the subjects
that received ethanol versus
those that received water.
• Some limitations of this study
include the sample size and the
background of the quail.
Therefore, we looked at just the
ethanol group and found an
aversion which may indicate too
high of a dosage of ethanol.
• This model may be important for
future research in behavioral and
pharmacological treatments for
cue induced relapse of alcohol
treatment seeking users.
• This study is a first step at
developing a visual model of
discrete cue CPP.

time they spent orientating to the least preferred paired light from the pre-test and the post-test indicating
a possible aversion to ethanol, t (4) = -3.183) = p = 0.03.

INTRO
Stimuli (e.g., beer bottle, bar sign) related to
alcohol have been shown to elicit relapse in
persons with substance use disorders.
Therefore, it is important to understand the
relationship between these stimuli and their
ability to elicit alcohol consumption.

METHODS
• For this study, conditioned place
preference (CPP) was used. CPP is a
behavioral procedure that can be used to
gauge the rewarding and aversive
components of alcohol using visual cues.
• The study utilized 11 adult quail (mixed
sex).
• The quail were administered ethanol
(alcohol) (1 g/kg [ethanol=5; water=6])
and confined to a chamber with one
colored light for 3 days (days 1,3 and 5).
• On alternate days quail (n=6 male; n=6
female) were confined to a different
chamber and administered water with a
different colored light for 3 days (days 2,4
and 6).
• Following conditioning, the quail were
given free access to both chambers and
lights.

References
•

RESULTS

•

Pre-Test

3.41

Standard
error
1.77

Post-Test

0.04

0.01

Mean

Rice, B. A., Eaton, S. E., Prendergast, M. A., & Akins, C. K.
(2018). A glucocorticoid receptor antagonist reduces sign-tracking
behavior in male Japanese quail. Experimental and clinical
psychopharmacology, 26(4), 329–334.
https://doi.org/10.1037/pha0000195
Tzschentke T. M. (1998). Measuring reward with the conditioned
place preference paradigm: a comprehensive review of drug
effects, recent progress and new issues. Progress in
neurobiology, 56(6), 613–672. https://doi.org/10.1016/s03010082(98)00060-4

Acknowledgements
Note: Figures presented are an example of time spent orientating to the paired light during the pre-test
(left) and post test (right).

• We would like to thank Morgan
Doolin, Austin Rice, Caitlin
Thompson, Joshua Weaver for
the original data collection.