Modelling the Transition from Goal-Directed to Habitual Behaviour

The power of stimulus control over drug seeking has long been in question: the strength of stimuli in a drug-taking environment to encourage future drug seeking. Missing is a model for this behaviour that clearly demonstrates stimulus control over a behaviour. This model would have applications for many subtypes of disordered and addictive behaviour: such as drug taking, disordered-eating, nail-biting, tics. We used sugar pellets as our reinforcer as sugar is known to be a highly addictive substance. Through self-administration schedules, behavioural conditioning to environmental stimuli with consequential and non- consequential levers, extended training and then revisiting lever pressing -all to gain sugar pellets- we found no clear nor significant outcomes for sugar-seeking behaviours in this model. The breadth of schedule design we considered was underpinned by our understanding of illicit substance use, rather than sugar metabolism. It remains important this schedule is tested under cocaine administration- as it was initially designed- to outline the power of habitual behaviour and conditioned stimuli in the role of substance seeking.