Disturbed patterns of behaviour in morphine tolerant and abstinent rats

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Abstract
Summary: Eating, drinking and spontaneous motor activity were studied in rats receiving large daily doses of morphine. These forms of behaviour were largely suppressed when the rats were made abstinent and were restored when morphine was given again. Compensation for depressions of behaviour during abstinence did not seem sufficient to account for all the stimulant effects of morphine in tolerant rats. Morphine also had slight stimulant actions in non‐tolerant rats. In tolerant rats, the repeated pairing of the effects of morphine with the re‐emergence of behaviour such as eating and drinking may intensify the rewarding value of the drug.