Nicotine self-administration in rats under different access conditions. (A) Experimental timeline. Two groups (saline/nicotine) of rats underwent self-administration training for 2 weeks (acquisition phase, 1 h/day). Then, nicotine group was divided into two subgroups, that is, short-access group (Nic-ShA, 1 h/day) and long-access group (Nic-LA, 21 h/day). (B) Nicotine groups showed increased infusions compared with saline group during the acquisition phase. There was no difference between Nic-ShA group and Nic-LA group during this period. During the maintain phase, Nic-LA group showed increased total infusions compared with Nic-ShA group. Data are expressed as mean ± standard error of the mean (SEM); *p < 0.05, compared with saline; #p < 0.05, compared with Nic-ShA group. Saline: n = 18, Nic-ShA: n = 16, Nic-LA: n = 18