What Does “Rat Park” Teach Us About Addiction?
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Addiction, Connection and the Rat Park Study
If only connection was enough..
Posted August 14, 2015 | Reviewed by Ekua Hagan
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Recently, I was bombarded with Facebook messages and posts about an addiction story everyone got really excited about.
This story followed Johann Hari’s book, Chasing the Scream , and his follow-up TED talk . In the talk, Johann mentioned the Rat Park experiment conducted by Bruce Alexander.
In this experiment, rats, who are participating in drug studies, are given a large cage with free food, access to sex , toys, and many playmates (the childhood kind, not Hugh Hefner’s). As Hari said in his talk, it was more a Rat Heaven then Rat Park... but still.
Under such conditions, Dr. Alexander found that rats actually refused drug cocktails, unlike their solo-caged study-mates.
The conclusion — it’s not the drugs that are an addiction but rather the environmental stressors that are placed on the rats we are studying. Eliminate the stress and you get rid of the addiction!
How amazing is that? If only things were really that simple…
Dealing with the real world
Let's ignore for a moment the methodological issues with Dr. Alexander's study (more on that here ). Assuming that what we are aiming for is not a world free of addicted rats, but rather a world free of addicted people, I have been wondering for quite a few years how we could translate these findings into real life.
The decriminalization efforts in Portugal , which Hari mentioned as well, are also something I’ve written about years ago and I agree that arresting drug users for their crimes leads to more , not less, addiction in the world.
The issue I am struggling with it this — marriages are imperfect, children are abused (physically and psychologically), wars affect citizens and soldiers and bad luck brings about traumatic loss. Our environment, unlike the environment created for the rats in Rat Heaven, is far from stress-free.
Worse still, as far as I can tell, we will, for the foreseeable future, be unable to create such a utopia for most people on Earth. If this is so, there is little doubt that some of the people affected by negative circumstances, traumatic experiences, or biological disturbances will be led down the path towards struggles with drugs and such.
To make matters more complicated, we know that biological influences related to genetic differences, neonatal (birth-related) circumstances, and early nutrition can alter brain mechanisms and make people more, or less, susceptible to the effects of trauma.
For instance, we now know that early life trauma alters the function of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, making individuals who have been exposed to trauma at an early age far more susceptible to stress, anxiety and substance use; or that hypoxia during delivery (certainly a form of trauma) can increase the chances of mental health defects later in life.
Like the Rat Heaven experiment, it should be somewhat obvious that without these early traumas, the individuals in question would experience less “need” for heavy-duty coping strategies like, let’s say, opiates. So biology is important here at least in this regard.
So trauma and stress are is not at all objective truths but rather individually determined patterns of influence. I am fully on board with making sure that the treatment system we use does not exacerbate the problems that stress and trauma bring about (so no shaming , breaking-down, or expulsion of clients for their struggles), but I think that the picture this TED talk and the related book presents is far too simplified to be as helpful as we want it to be.
I believe that more focus should be given to improved prevention efforts in order to reduce the likelihood of these early traumas and therefore of later drug-seeking experience in the first place. I also know that significant efforts are already being put into this sort of work through a multitude of social-services organizations and government agencies.
Needless to say, the demand for drug use has not abated despite these efforts. The work must be more difficult than setting children up with a big box, water, and some chew toys.
How oversimplification hurts us
And this brings up a question for me — what if humans are not like rats? I know it’s a shocking suggestion but just stay with me for a second.
What if human life is somewhat more complicated than rat life, science lab or not? What if Rat Heaven is not a recipe for success in eradicating human addiction because our own internal struggles , social networks and consciousness-seeking drive us farther in seeking mind-alteration than they do rats? Isn’t it possible that even if we were somehow able to make Earth a Utopia (and I would argue we are moving farther from such a reality and not closer) we would still be dealing with substance use? It’s been happening for at least 8000 years already and I’m thinking it’s here to stay.
So while I agree that social connection is very important for dealing with substance use problems (that is why we don’t shame our clients at I GNTD and don’t expel them for using when the program doesn’t call for it), it also matters who we’re connecting to and that, unfortunately, is something we control only to a limited extent.
We have to deal with the circumstances we are born into — dysfunctional marriages, depression , dietary limitations, and gang violence — and sometimes substances are the solution, not the problem.
So let’s keep moving towards a shame-free way of looking at addiction but let’s not pretend that wishing the struggles away will make it so.
An earnest hug is great, but it is not a panacea.
We have a lot of hard work to do.
© 2015 Adi Jaffe, All Rights Reserved
Read Dr. Jaffe's book, The Abstinence Myth , and be sure to check out his TEDx talk, Rebranding Our Shame , as well as his podcast .
Adi Jaffe , Ph.D. , is a lecturer at UCLA and the CEO of IGNTD, an online company that produces podcasts and educational programs on mental health and addiction.
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What can the Rat Park experiment teach us about addiction?
Last Updated:
January 4th, 2024
Today, we take a closer look at the experiment, covering everything from its setup to the conclusions we can draw from the results.
What was the reasoning behind the Rat Park experiment?
The experiment was designed to challenge and reevaluate previous studies on drug addiction , which used rats in isolated and barren environments. In these earlier experiments, rats were placed in small, individual cages with access to a water solution containing morphine. The results consistently showed that the rats developed addictive behaviours towards the morphine-laced water, often leading to the idea that the drugs themselves were inherently addictive.
Sceptical of this experiment, Bruce Alexander, a Canadian psychologist, conducted his own experiment in the 1970s. He questioned whether the isolated and stressful conditions of the previous experiments were influencing the results. He proposed that addiction might be more closely related to environmental and social factors than the pharmacological properties of the drugs themselves. To test this hypothesis, Alexander conducted the Rat Park experiment.
Why were rats used in this experiment?
Rats were chosen for the Rat Park experiment due to their significant physiological and behavioural similarities to humans. Their social nature, complex behaviours, and shared neurological pathways make them suitable subjects for studying the influence of environmental factors on addiction.
How was the Rat Park experiment conducted, and what did they find?
Here’s how the team carried out the experiment and the results they found:
| Alexander and his team created a large, comfortable environment for multiple rats. This environment was spacious and enriched with toys, tunnels, and other forms of social and physical stimulation. The researchers believed that this setting was more representative of a rat’s natural habitat than the standard laboratory cages. | |
| Two groups of rats were used in the experiment. One group lived in standard laboratory cages, isolated from other rats, while the other group lived in the enriched environment of Rat Park. | |
| In both groups, rats were given access to two water bottles, one containing a solution of plain water and the other containing a solution of water mixed with cocaine and opiates. The rats could choose which solution to drink on their own accord. | |
| The researchers observed and measured the rats’ drug consumption over time. They monitored how much of the morphine solution the rats in each group consumed. | |
| The findings of the Rat Park experiment suggested that rats living in the enriched environment of Rat Park consumed significantly less morphine than those living in the standard laboratory cages. The researchers concluded that social and environmental factors in Rat Park, such as social interaction and mental stimulation, played a crucial role in reducing the rats’ inclination to self-administer the drugged water. This led them to question the prevailing view of addiction as a simple chemical dependency and emphasised the importance of social and environmental factors in understanding and addressing addiction. |
What does the Rat Park experiment suggest about addiction?
The Rat Park experiment has given us hours of debating and discussion time. Below, we take a look at some of the key things that Rat Park could teach us about addiction and question how we view it:
1. Environment’s impact on addiction
When we compared the two settings, it became obvious which environment triumphed. The isolated groups of rats had tiny, dark cages with nothing to keep them entertained but drugs. On the flip side, the Rat Park was like a dream home for rodents, all fancy and full of excitement. The rats there had lots of space, interactive toys, wheels to spin on, and buddies to hang out with (and have sex with too!). Of course, the rats in this cool setup were less likely to choose the drug-laced water than those stuck in those boring, lonely cages. This tells us something important about people, too – our surroundings really matter when it comes to how likely we are to get addicted.
2. Social interaction and support
The Rat Park experiment’s key discovery was how social interaction affects addiction. Rats in a better environment were thriving when it came to community and social activities. Having a supportive community among the rats seemed to keep them away from choosing the water laced with morphine. This idea is pretty important for humans, too, hinting that having strong social ties and feeling like you belong might be key to stopping or lessening addictive behaviours. It’s a reminder of how vital social support systems are when we’re dealing with addiction in people.
3. Isolation as a risk factor
The experiment also highlighted the detrimental effects of isolation on addiction. Those stuck in solitary conditions were more likely to take more drugs compared to the rats in the socially active Rat Park. This connects with human experiences because people dealing with isolation and loneliness might turn to addictive substances for comfort. The research highlights that dealing with social isolation is crucial when coming up with ways to prevent and treat addiction.
4. Alternative rewards
The idea of alternative rewards shakes up the old idea that addictive behaviours are the only way to find pleasure and satisfaction. The idea is that if people have other things that make them happy and satisfied, they might not feel the need to turn to addictive substances. This concept is based on the fact that people have certain needs that need to be fulfilled, and if we encourage them to engage in activities that bring joy, fulfilment, and a sense of achievement, it could lead to a more balanced and satisfying life.
5. Holistic approach to addiction
A holistic approach to addiction looks at the big picture, understanding that there are many different factors that play a role, and they’re all connected. It’s not just about the substance; it considers all parts of a person’s life. This means looking at the biological, psychological, social, and environmental sides of addiction. Treating someone holistically involves a mix of medical help, talking therapies , support from friends and family, and making changes to how they live. The idea is to see addiction as something complicated involving lots of different factors. By doing this, a holistic approach aims to find complete and lasting solutions that help people stay on track for the long haul.
6. Behavioural adaptation
Behavioural adaptation means people can change the way they act and what they do based on what’s happening around them. When we’re talking about addiction, it suggests that individuals can learn and pick up new, healthier habits to replace the ones linked to addiction. This might include coming up with ways to handle stress, managing tough situations, and making healthier life choices. Understanding that people can adapt their behaviour highlights how crucial it is to give them the right tools and support. It’s about helping them make positive changes in the way they behave.
7. Recovery is by no means impossible
Recovery potential is about believing that people facing addiction can get better. It’s not about thinking that the outcome is already set in stone. Instead, it sees recovery as a continuous and changing process. To make progress, we look at a person’s strengths, resilience, and the people around them who can provide support. This method promotes giving individuals the power to play a big part in their own recovery. It encourages a feeling of control and hope. When we recognise and use a person’s natural ability to change for the better, we agree that long-lasting recovery is possible for many folks dealing with addiction.
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Rat Park: How a rat paradise changed the narrative of addiction
Affiliations.
- 1 Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK.
- 2 Public Health Institute, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, UK.
- PMID: 30367729
- DOI: 10.1111/add.14481
Keywords: Biopsychosocial model; drug self-administration; morphine; popular culture; pre-clinical model; ‘Rat Park’.
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Addiction: The View from Rat Park (2010)
Addiction: The View from Rat Park
Bruce K. Alexander,Professor Emeritus, Simon Fraser University If you were a cute little white rat…
…you certainly wouldn’t want to live in a psychology laboratory. When I was an experimental psychologist, between about 1960 and 1980, white laboratory rats had to live in solitary confinement cellblocks like this…
Although the rats lived in close proximity, they could neither see nor touch each other, because the sides of their cages were made of sheet metal. The only visual stimulation they got was seeing the people who brought food and water and cleaned the metal pans under their cages every few days. Unlike human prisoners, the rats did not even get an exercise period outside their cramped cages.
And that was in the best of times. In the worst of times they were starved for 24 hours or more and put into Skinner Boxes that looked like this…
Inside Skinner Boxes, the rats could get tiny pellets of food one at a time, provided they pushed a little lever on the side of the box over and over and over. The metal floor made it possible for the experiment to administer electric shocks when the experiment was about punishment rather than reward, which it often was.
Do you think that this would qualify as psychological abuse of rats? Of course it would, if there were such a crime. But we young psychologists were trained not to think about what the rats might be experiencing. We usually did not even look at the rats, but only at the data they produced in the Skinner Boxes by pressing their little levers. The data looked like this...
Do you see any sign of rat angst or depression in these data? If not, the rats must be ok, right?
In the 1960s, some experimental psychologists began to think that the Skinner Box was a good place to study drug addiction. They perfected techniques that allowed the rats to inject small doses of a drug into themselves by pressing the lever. This required tethering the rat to the ceiling of the box with tubing and surgically implanting a needle, or catheter, into their jugular veins. The drug passed through the tube and the needle into the rats’ bloodstreams almost instantaneously when they pushed the lever. It reached their brains moments later.
Under appropriate conditions, rats would press the lever often enough to consume large amounts of heroin, morphine, amphetamine, cocaine, and other drugs in this situation. The mass media of the day were quite excited about these experiments. The results seemed to prove that these drugs were irresistibly addicting, even to rodents, and by extension, to human beings. The conclusion that illegal drugs are irresistibly addicting fit well with the fearsome images that were being propagated about them. The rat research provided additional support for the War on Drugs of that day. Irresistibly addicting drugs certainly cannot be allowed to circulate in human society, especially if, as we were told, this is your brain on drugs…
At first, the conclusion that was reached from this rat research made sense to me. But then I began to realize that it was a stretch. Actually, it was more than a stretch; it was a bone-cracking, joint-popping contortion of normal reason, for several reasons. First, the ancestors of laboratory rats in nature are highly social, sexual, and industrious creatures. Putting such a creature in solitary confinement would be the equivalent of doing the same thing to a human being. Solitary confinement drives people crazy; if prisoners in solitary have the chance to take mind-numbing drugs, they do. Might isolated rats not need to numb their minds in solitary confinement for the same reason that people do? Second, taking drugs in a Skinner box where almost no effort is required and there is nothing else to do is nothing like human addiction which always involves making choices between many possible alternatives. Third, rats are rats. How can we possibly reach conclusions about complex, perhaps spiritual experiences like human addiction and recovery by studying rats? Aren’t we more complex and soulful than rats, even if we have similar social needs?
A small group of colleagues at Simon Fraser University, including Robert Coambs, Patricia Hadaway, Barry Beyerstein, and myself undertook to test the conclusion about irresistibly addicting drugs that had been reached from the earlier rat studies. We compared the drug intake of rats housed in a reasonably normal environment 24 hours a day with rats kept in isolation in the solitary confinement cages that were standard in those days. This required building a great big plywood box on the floor of our laboratory, filling it with things that rats like, such as platforms for climbing, tin cans for hiding in, wood chips for strewing around, and running wheels for exercise. Naturally we included lots of rats of both sexes, and naturally the place soon was teeming with babies. The rats loved it and we loved it too, so we called it “Rat Park”.
We ran several experiments comparing the drug consumption of rats in Rat Park with rats in solitary confinement in regular laboratory cages. In virtually every experiment, the rats in solitary confinement consumed more drug solution, by every measure we could devise. And not just a little more. A lot more.
Here are the results of one of our first experiments.
You will see at a glance that the rats in Rat Park, called the “Social Females” and “Social Males” in this graph, are consuming hardly any morphine solution, but the “Caged Females” and “Caged Males” are consuming a lot. In this experiment the females consumed more than the males, but that gender difference did not hold up in later experiments. It soon became absolutely clear to us that the earlier Skinner box experiments did not prove that morphine was irresistible to rats. Rather, most of the consumption of rats isolated in a Skinner box was likely to be a response to isolation itsself. So, we published the results of our experiments in psychopharmacology journals.
The Rat Park research attracted lots of attention in the local media in our city, and among our students at our university, but in the larger world of addiction theory it sank like a stone, even after other researchers replicated our findings. We had hoped that our research might initiate a serious reconsideration of the conventional wisdom on the causes of addition. When it didn’t, we were surprised and disappointed. However, we were all at an early stage in our professional careers and looking for other issues to tackle. After our satisfying, but unheralded, success with Rat Park, our individual interests took us off in separate directions.
One of the worst aspects of closing of Rat Park was that it left us with unresolved questions. A new graduate student in our lab had tried to replicate one of our original experiments but did not get statistically significant results. Non-replication is not a fatal problem in laboratory research, but it requires follow up studies to determine why it happens. Many factors can determine the outcomes of experiments and not all ofthem can be controlled. Did the non-replication occur because the researcher had to use a new substrain of rats, or because the modified, presumably improved, apparatus that measured drug and water consumption in Rat Park didnot work as well as the original machinery, or simply because the Rat Park effect was not as robust as we originally thought? We never were able to work out the mystery, because Rat Park was closed down for good. However, we remain confident in our original experiments, partly because we had repeated them several times in different ways, partly because they were replicated with different apparatuses by researchers at other universities, and partly because more recent research with different methods has shown other fatal deficiencies in the original Skinner box research which once appeared to show that all rats and people who use addictive drugs become addicted.
But a vague question lingered in my mind. Our rats consumed much more morphine when they were isolated. This fact definitely undermined the supposed proof that certain drugs irresistibly cause addiction. But what does cause addiction? Why is there currently a flood of addiction to drugs and many other habits and pursuits? People do not have to be put into cages to become addicted – but is there a sense in which people who become addicted actually feel “caged”? It turns out that the answer to this last question is “yes”. Or rather, “YES!” The insight into human addiction that grows from the Rat Park research is not terribly complicated, but it took me about 15 years to grasp it clearly and another 10 years to assemble the evidence from human history and anthropology to show that it is true and another 5 years to write a book about it. (The Globalisation of Addiction: A study in poverty of the spirit, Oxford University Press, 2008). That’s how I got to be an old guy.
My graduate students and I first tried to replicate part of the Rat Park research with human beings, by getting people to role-play prisoners and guards in a prison. The idea was that the prisoners in a simulated prison would be in the same state of mind as the rats in Rat Park. We couldn’t offer them drugs of course, but we could at least ask them about how they felt and get an idea of the mindset that is conducive to consumption of drugs. Unfortunately, the experiment told us nothing…Back to the drawing board.
How could we do an experiment with people that was something like Rat Park, without treating our human subjects unethically or illegally? I gradually realized that history provides natural experiments of the sort I needed. The results are sitting around in dusty books just waiting to be analyzed. One of these many natural experiments is the effect of colonization on native people.
Here are the basic facts as they are recorded in the history of Western Canada, where I live, although very similar historical data can be found in many countries:
The English colonial empire overran hundreds of native tribal groups in Western Canada in the 18 th and 19 th century. The native people were moved off expansive tribal lands onto very small reserves, completely destroying the economic basis of their cultures. Their children were taken from their parents and sent off to “residential schools” to be taught the white man’s culture so they could be assimilated. They were forbidden to speak their native languages and found themselves strangers in their own communities when they finally came home.
Prior to the colonial conquest, the native people had some serious problems, of course, including frequent tribal warfare, with prisoners being killed or kept as slaves. Mental illness, personal betrayals, and epidemic diseases occasionally occurred in pre-colonial tribes. Basically, native people had all the problems of their English colonizers except one. There was so little addiction that it is very difficult to prove from written and oral histories that it existed at all.
But once the native people were colonized alcoholism became close to universal. There were entire reserves where virtually every teenager and adult was either an alcohol or drug addict or “on the wagon”. There still are a few reserves like this. Addiction was not limited to alcohol, but eventually encompassed the full range of addictions found in the wider society: drugs, television, gambling, Internet, dysfunctional love relationships, etc.
At first, the English settlers explained the universal alcoholism of the natives with the a story of genetic vulnerability. They said “Indians just can’t handle liquor” and tried to solve the problem with strict alcohol prohibition. That didn’t work and most people don’t believe the genetic vulnerability story anymore.
So why did universal addiction strike the colonized natives of Western Canada and the world as well? Certain parallels between the problems of colonized human beings and the rats in Rat Park appear to provide an explanation. In both cases there is little drug consumption in the natural environment and a lot when the people or animals are placed in an environment that produces social and cultural isolation. In the case of rats, social and cultural isolation is produced by confining the rats in individual cages. In the case of native people, the social and cultural isolation is produced by destroying the foundations of their cultural life: taking away almost all of their traditional land, breaking up families, preventing children from learning their own language, prohibiting their most basic religious ceremonies (potlatches and spirit dancing in Western Canada), discrediting traditional medical practices, and so forth. Under such conditions, both rats and people consume too much of whatever drug that is made easily accessible to them. Morphine for the rats, alcohol for the people.
In both cases, the colonizers or the experimenters who provide the drug explain the drug consumption in the isolated environment by saying that the drug is irresistible to the people or the rats. But in both cases, the drug only becomes irresistible when the opportunity for normal social existence is destroyed .
In the case of natives of Western Canada, other historical information makes it perfectly clear that a simple genetic vulnerability to alcohol was not the cause of the devastating plague of alcoholism that occurred. There are several different types of evidence:
1. In cases where alcohol was available to natives, but their cultures were not destroyed, they were able to incorporate alcohol into their native traditions without too much trouble. People drank and some people got plenty drunk on some occasions, but there was no widespread alcoholism.
2. In cases where native cultures were destroyed, but alcohol was not available, native people showed many of the symptoms that are associated with mass alcoholism, without ever tasting a drop. In other words, people stopped doing productive work and taking care of their families and concentrated on aping the manners of the English invaders and idling away their time. Criminality and child neglect became problems, where they had not been before. But alcohol was not the cause because there wasn’t any!
3. We now know that native people whose cultures have been destroyed are vulnerable to all the addictions that white people are. If Indians whose cultures have been destroyed have a genetic weakness for alcohol, they also have a genetic weakness for drugs, television, gambling, bingo, Internet, and dysfunctional love relationships!
If the alcohol itself was not the cause of native alcoholism, what was? The great advantage of doing our research with human beings rather than rodents is that people are often willing to tell us the answer to our questions. Native people have described the anguish of being deprived of their traditional cultures and social networks in eloquent language and have explained how drunkeness relieved their misery temporarily, even as it ultimately led to self-destruction.
When I look at the pictures of our caged rats now, it is easy for me to think that I detect something similar to the anguish or rage that native people describe when their cultures are destroyed. However not everyone agrees. Some people seem to think that rats are pretty inscrutable. There is no way to resolve an argument what rats are feeling. So I have never gone back to rat experimentation but have instead searched out more and more parallels in the literature of human history and anthropology. This work is still in progress. There is no shortage of parallels from people of all races and many cultures.
When I talk to addicted people, whether they are addicted to alcohol, drugs, gambling, Internet use, sex, or anything else, I encounter human beings who really do not have a viable social or cultural life. They use their addictions as a way of coping with their dislocation: as an escape, a pain killer, or a kind of substitute for a full life. More and more psychologists and psychiatrists are reporting similar observations. Maybe our fragmented, mobile, ever-changing modern society has produced social and cultural isolation in very large numbers of people, even though their cages are invisible! The view of addiction from Rat Park is that today’s flood of addiction is occurring because our hyperindividualistic, hypercompetitive, frantic, crisis-ridden society makes most people feel social and culturally isolated. Chronic isolation causes people to look for relief. They find temporary relief in addiction to drugs or any of a thousand other habits and pursuits because addiction allows them to escape from their feelings, to deaden their senses, and to experience an addictive lifestyle as a substitute for a full life. At this point, it is too early to say conclusively if the Rat Park view of addiction is right or not, but it is not too early to be sure that the old theory that addiction is a problem caused by addictive drugs is far too simple. Huge amounts of research money have been spent researching the idea that addictive drugs are the cause of addiction and treatments based on that idea have been tried over the world. In the meantime, the once-small problem of addiction has globalized. Moreover, it has become absolutely clear that drug and alcohol addiction is only a corner of a much larger addiction problem!
It is definitely time for a fresh direction in the theory of addiction, and I have a hunch – as well as a hope – that Rat Park might provide the starting point. The next steps from this starting point are explained in my book The Globalization of Addiction: A study in poverty of the spirit. (Oxford Univ. Press, 2010).
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Rat Park was a series of studies into drug addiction conducted in the late 1970s and published between 1978 and 1981 by Canadian psychologist Bruce K. Alexander and his colleagues at Simon Fraser University ... In another experiment, he forced rats in ordinary lab cages to consume the morphine-laced solution for 57 days without other liquid ...
Alexander's experiments, in the 1970s, have come to be called the "Rat Park. 1 Researchers had already proved that when rats were placed in a cage, all alone, with no other community of rats, and offered two water bottles-one filled with water and the other with heroin or cocaine-the rats would repetitively drink from the drug-laced bottles ...
In this experiment, rats, who are participating in drug studies, are given a large cage with free food, access to sex, toys, and many playmates (the childhood kind, not Hugh Hefner's). As Hari ...
The experiment was designed to challenge and reevaluate previous studies on drug addiction, which used rats in isolated and barren environments. In these earlier experiments, rats were placed in small, individual cages with access to a water solution containing morphine. The results consistently showed that the rats developed addictive ...
'Rat Park' is the name given to a series of studies beginning in the 1970s and led by Bruce K. Alexander in his laboratory at Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, Canada, where he found that rats living in a social environment were less likely to self-administer oral morphine than those housed in isolation. Rat Park is no doubt an important and interesting set of studies, and the core ...
Follow-ups to Alexander's Rat Park Experiment. The July 5, 1985 issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) published a study by Michael A. Bozarth and Roy A. Wise on the toxicity of heroin and cocaine in rats.Subjects were 23 male Long Evans rats. All 23 rats were housed in solitary confinement in laboratory cages and fitted with catheters so that they could self-inject ...
Rat Park: How a rat paradise changed the narrative of addiction. Addiction. 2019 May;114 (5):917-922. doi: 10.1111/add.14481. Epub 2018 Nov 16.
A fifth female rat died during the abstinence phase of the experiment, where a choice between morphine and water was available on test days but only water was available for 5 weeks.
We ran several experiments comparing the drug consumption of rats in Rat Park with rats in solitary confinement in regular laboratory cages. In virtually every experiment, the rats in solitary confinement consumed more drug solution, by every measure we could devise. And not just a little more. A lot more.
J. Rep. Neurosci. "…It has now been more than 40 years since the Rat Park studies took place. In that time, these simple experiments have been critiqued and analysed repeatedly, helping to inspire generations of scientists to consider the social and environmental factors underlying addiction (1). While many of these studies have reproduced ...
One was an experiment by Shirley Y. Hill and Barbara J. Powell on the effect of an enriched environment compared to an impoverished environment on drug self-administration in male Wistar rats. After weaning, when they were 20-days old, 15 rats were raised in an enriched environment much like rat park. They all lived together in a single chamber ...
This was the conclusion drawn from repeated rat experiments in numerous"Drugs cause addiction." This was the conclus. on drawn from repeated rat experiments in numerous university research centres in the 1950s and 60s. These studies had involved the use of tiny cages with contraptio. s that allowed isolated animals to drink drug-laced sugar ...
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The Rat Park studies are classic experiments in addiction neuroscience, yet they have not been successfully replicated directly and several serious methodological criticisms have been raised.
The "Rat Park" story "Drugs cause addiction." This was the conclusion drawn from repeated rat experiments in numerous ... the implications of the Rat Park experiments in small groups. Then debrief as a class. 4. After reviewing the Rat Park cartoon (or the student handout or either of the videos), have students
Is much of what we know about drug addiction wrong? Subscribe for more: https://freeth.ink/youtube-subscribe-ratparkMuch of our shared understanding about dr...
In 1978, Canadian psychologist Bruce K. Alexander conducted an experiment that would revolutionize the way we understand drug addictions. With funding from S...
The famous Rat Park experiment offered some fascinating insights into the nature of addiction. Rats are often used for "psychological experiments" due to their genetic similarity to humans. Ninety-five percent of the human genome is identical to that of rats. Studies involving rats are always conducted in controlled environments (in other ...
At the end of the 1970s, Bruce Alexander published a series of clinical studies known as the rat park experiments. The studies compared two groups of rats, all pre-addicted to morphine. The first group lived separately in isolated cages, and the second group lived together in a rat colony where they could play, have sex, and socialize.
Where applicable, this presentation primarily depicts how drugs interact with dopamine neurotransmitters because this website focuses on the brain's reward pathway. Mouse Party is designed to provide a small glimpse into the chemical interactions at the synaptic level that cause the drug user to feel 'high'. Genetic Science Learning Center.
Inhabitants of Rat Park could be induced to drink more of the morphine if it was mixed with sugar, but a control experiment suggested that this was because they liked the sugar, rather than ...
Rat Studies Elucidate the Neurochemistry of Addiction. Scientists have long wondered what happens in the brain during the moments before a drug addict succumbs to the urge for a fix, or an animal ...
The Monkey Drug Trials experiment was influenced by preceding research discussing related topics. [2] Six notable research publications may be highlighted: "Factors regulating oral consumption of an opioid (etonitazene) by morphine-addicted rats"; [3] "Experimental morphine addiction: Method for automatic intravenous injections in unrestrained rats."; [4] "Morphine self ...
Addiction is an SSA journal publishing peer-reviewed research reports on pharmalogical and behavioural addictions spanning many different disciplines.
In recent years, various drug delivery systems circumventing the blood-brain barrier have emerged for treating brain tumors. This study aimed to improve the efficacy of brain tumor treatment in boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) using cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) circulation to deliver boronophenylalanine (BPA) to targeted tumors. Previous experiments have demonstrated that boron accumulation ...