Individual differences in schedule-induced and conditioned behaviors

Abstract Previous experiments have shown that subjects which exhibit a high locomotor response to novelty (HR) also show a greater locomotor response to psychomotor stimulants than subjects which have a low locomotor response to a novel environment (LR). The current experiments were designed to examine in more detail the behavioral differences between HR and LR rats in non-drug paradigms. In the first experiment HR rats acquired schedule-induced polydipsia (SIP) more readily than LR rats. Panel pressing to gain access to the food pellets, however, was greater in LR rats compared to HR rats, especially after stable levels of SIP had been attained. In the second experiment one group of rats were fed daily after a 30-min period in photocell-cages (food conditioning; FC) while a control group was fed in the home-cage (non-conditioned; NC). FC subjects developed heightened locomotor activity in anticipation of feeding in the initial 30 min in the test-cage compared to NC rats. This anticipatory locomotor activity developed more rapidly and to a greater level in HR rats than in LR rats. The concentrations of dopamine, dihydroxyphenylacetic acid, homovanillic acid, serotonin, 5-hydroxyindoleactic acid, and norepinephrine were determined at the completion of behavioral testing in both the food conditioned and non-conditioned rats. The food conditioned experiment showed that variations in both the dopaminergic and serotoninergic systems may underlie individual differences in behavioral responsiveness. However, no clear pattern of neurochemical differences emerged. The current set of experiments have demonstrated differences between HR and LR rats in non-drug related paradigms and that HR rats appear to show a greater motivational excitement induced by periodic food delivery than LR rats.