CONTEXT AND EXTINCTION: EFFECTS OF THE RENEWAL OF COMPENSATORY RESPONSES CONDITIONED TO ETHANOL

Abstract

In the present work two experiments are proposed that aim to verify empirically, through the behavioral model of drug addiction proposed by Siegel (2008), the effect of context on the extinction and renewal of tolerance and abstinence to the effects ataxic ethanol, as a resource to explain why the high rate of relapse occurs. The design of both studies was experimental mixed factorial, using mice from the RMNI strain as study subjects. The statistical contrast of the results obtained ratifies the Siegel model as plausible explanation of the basic mechanism of drug addiction and its high rate of relapse. These findings suggest that psychological therapies such as exposure to clues are carried out in a context as similar as possible to the place where the addiction developed, to reduce relapse.