TITLE: Cocaine IV Self-Administration
AUTHORS: Lani Tieu, Brent Boomhower, Molly Brennan, McKenzie Pavlich, Giordano De Guglielmo, Olivier    George

[DESCRIPTION]
<div class = "text-blocks"><div class = "text-block">This protocol outlines the procedure of conducting intravenous cocaine self-administration for the GWAS experiment.</div><div class = "text-block">Timeline of experiment: </div><div class = "text-block">After animal arrival and 2 weeks of quarantine, animals will go under intravenous catheterization followed by 1 week of recovery from surgery. After recovery, animals will undergo 10 days of short access (2h/day) cocaine self-administration under a fixed ratio schedule (FR1). The animals will then run a session under a progressive ratio schedule of reinforcement. Next, the animals will undergo 14 days of long access (6h/day) cocaine self-administration (FR1) followed by another session under the progressive ratio schedule. In the next phase, self-administration will be tested under adverse consequences (i.e. footshock). </div></div>

[STEPS]
?. [Session Setup]
Bring animals to the experimentation room where you will run self-administration.
?. [Session Setup]
Pick up the animal from its cage and place it in operant chamber.
?. [Session Setup]
With a microchip reader, scan RFID on the chamber door then scan the rat. Animals must be scanned each test day to  ensure that they run in the same operant chamber throughout the experiment (a green check mark appears when animal is in correct chamber).
?. [Session Setup]
Flush the line by turning the knob on the pump to clear away any air bubbles. Make sure that drug stops dripping from the line before connecting to the catheter.
?. [Session Setup]
Pick up the animal and remove the cannula protector (a metal cap) and hoodsie (catheter port cover) from the catheter mounted on the back of the animal.
?. [Session Setup]
Carefully flush the catheter with 0.1-0.2 ml heparinized saline containing cefazolin (20 mg/0.2 ml).
?. [Session Setup]
Connect the line to the catheter port on the animal then screw the metal cap onto the cannula.
?. [Session Setup]
Close the chamber door and outer chamber doors.
?. [Session Setup]
When all animals are loaded, set up MedAssociates program and start the session
The retractable active and inactive levers will protract when the session is initiated. An active lever press (FR1) results in a 0.1 ml infusion of cocaine in saline (0.5 mg/kg/infusion) over 4 seconds and a light that remains lit for 20 seconds during which another active lever press does not deliver cocaine. An inactive lever press produces no results.
?. [Session Setup]
Leave the room and keep the lights off during the testing session.
?. [MedAssociates Setup]
After loading animals in operant boxes, open the MedAssociates Program on computer.
?. [MedAssociates Setup]
Click 'Yes' when the following prompt appears:
?. [MedAssociates Setup]
Go to ‘File’ on the top left corner then ‘Open Session’ (or click the open book icon).
?. [MedAssociates Setup]
Click the dropdown under ‘Procedure’ and select the program that is designed for the session you want to run.
?. [MedAssociates Setup]
Select ‘Custom Filename’ and name file with cohort #, project, session day
?. [MedAssociates Setup]
Starting with Box 1 under ‘Boxes to Load’, enter the animal ID in ‘Subject’ field then click ‘OK’ and load the next box. Enter '0' for animals that are absent in the study.
If you mistype the animal ID while loading the boxes, click ‘Close Session’ (closed book icon or under ‘File’), select ‘Stop, Abandon Data (StopKill)’, select all boxes then click 'OK'. Repeat step 12 to reload the boxes.
?. [MedAssociates Setup]
Click ‘Close’ when all boxes are loaded.
?. [MedAssociates Setup]
Go to ‘Configure’ > ‘Signal’
?. [MedAssociates Setup]
Click ‘Select all’ under ‘Boxes’ to initiate all the boxes at the same time
?. [MedAssociates Setup]
Click ‘Issue’ to begin session
?. [Post-session ]
Enter the room and turn on the lights.
?. [Post-session ]
Open the chambers, pick up the animal and disconnect the metal cap and line from the catheter.
?. [Post-session ]
Place the hoodsie and cannula protector back onto the catheter port.
?. [Post-session ]
Return the animal to its cage and bring all the animals back to their housing room.
?. [Post-session ]
Pull out the tray from the operant chamber, discard the dirty bedding, clean the tray with quatricide (disinfectant), then replace with clean bedding.
?. [Post-session ]
Before placing tray back into the chamber, clean out any bedding in the corners and sides with a duster or brush.
?. [Post-session ]
Clean the interior of the chamber with quatricide and wipe down with paper towels.