There is a significant degree of individual variability in response to drugs of abuse. A goal of behavior genetic studies has been to determine the extent to which observed heterogeneity in drug use can be attributed to genetic and environmental factors and to identify the neurobiological factors involved in vulnerability. Recent hypotheses regarding the predictive value of spontaneous locomotor activity in the acquisition of drug-reinforced behavior are amenable to testing using a behavior genetics approach. Genetic differences in locomotor response to a novel environment were determined in naive and catheterized Lewis, F344, NBR and ACI rats. Operant drug-reinforced behavior was examined in a 23h access paradigm in which each lever press by a rat produced a 1mg/kg injection of morphine with a 30s timeout period (FR 1:TO 30"). Acquisition (7 days), extinction (6 days) and reacquisition (7 days) of morphine self-administration behavior was investigated in all four inbred strains. Large genetic differences in the rate of acquisition and extinction of morphine self-administration were found. Lewis rats responded at high rates beginning in the first two days, whereas F344 rats initially responded at low rates and responding increased gradually over seven days. NBR and ACI rats responded at intermediate levels. When vehicle was substituted for drug there was a significant effect of genotype on the rate of extinction; F344 and ACI increased responding to greater than 175% of drug-response levels, whereas the Lewis response rate decreased gradually and NBR response rate decreased immediately during the first several days. When drug was available again, rates of reacquisition did not differ from original acquisition rates. Drug maintained significantly greater amounts of behavior than vehicle in the Lewis, F344 and NBR rats and was thus shown to serve as a positive reinforcer in these three strains under these conditions. There was a significant genetic correlation among strains between drug intake during the first five days of acquisition and spontaneous locomotor response to a novel environment in catheterized rats. Only the ACI rats showed a significant within-strain correlation. The positive relationship between rate of acquisition of self-administration behavior and locomotor activity suggests that these two traits are influenced by common or closely linked genes. To this end, the neurobiological substrates that mediate spontaneous locomotor behavior under these environmental conditions may act, in part, as a template for determining the neurobiological substrates that mediate the relative rate of acquisition of morphine-taking behavior under these conditions.