Schedule-induced polydipsia experience decreases locomotor response to amphetamine.

To investigate the influence of schedule-induced polydipsia (SIP) on central dopaminergic systems, rats trained in a SIP procedure were challenged with the psychostimulant and dopaminergic agonist, D-amphetamine. In a first experiment, rats that had access to water and developed SIP (SIP-positive) displayed a lower response to amphetamine than rats that had access to water but did not develop SIP (SIP-negative) and rats that had no access to water. There was no difference in the spontaneous activity of these different groups of animals. In a second experiment, SIP-positive rats displayed the same reduced response to amphetamine following only 10 min of SIP drinking. In addition, SIP-positive rats that were tested without access to water during the SIP test displayed an increased locomotor activity both after saline and amphetamine treatments. These results suggest that SIP has stress-reducing properties.