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Author ORCID Identifier

https://orcid.org/0009-0001-2272-4160

Date Available

9-22-2026

Year of Publication

2026

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

College

Arts and Sciences

Department/School/Program

Psychology

Faculty

Michael Bardo

Abstract

People with opioid use disorder can experience craving and relapse to use when exposed to cues that were previously paired with the drug-taking environment. These cues can be both social and non-social in nature. This study aimed to explore the effect of a peer cue and a drug-prime cue, both together and separately. First, rats were trained to self-administer fentanyl in Context A (peer and drug present). Then, rats extinguished this behavior in Context B (no peer and no drug present) while self-administering saline instead of fentanyl. Lastly, rats underwent 4 different renewal test conditions (control, peer only, drug only, peer + drug) in order to determine renewal of drug-seeking. It was found that rats renewed drug seeking under the peer only and peer + drug conditions, but not the drug only condition. This suggests that the social cue overshadowed the effect of the nonsocial, drug cue.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

https://doi.org/10.13023/etd.2026.440

Archival?

Archival

1st Funding Information

National Institute of Health R01 DA053070

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