| Previous research has used the conditioned place preference (CPP) paradigm to study the addictive properties of drugs with laboratory animals in order to identify whether they become conditioned to choose a specific environment associated with a drug. The current study used the CPP paradigm to examine the addictive properties of the herbal remedy, valerian. Valerian has shown to have similar pharmacodynamics as benzodiazepines, and has been used for the management of anxiety and insomnia to replace the use of benzodiazepines. For this experiment, 32 adult, male Sprague-Dawley rats were used. For 16 days, each rat alternated between receiving an injection of liquid valerian root or an injection of the vehicle. Half of the subjects received the valerian in a checkered chamber and half received the valerian in a white chamber. If valerian has addictive properties, the rats would spend more time in the chamber where they received valerian as opposed to the chamber where they received the vehicle. Results showed that there were no significant differences between the time spent in the drug administered chamber versus the time spent in the vehicle-administered chamber. Given that valerian does not show addictive properties, as hypothesized, there is potential that valerian can be used as a safe substitute for benzodiazepines. |
