The rewarding and locomotor effects of the specific dopamine uptake inhibitor GBR12783 (2.5-20 mg kg-1, i.p.) were compared with those of cocaine. For both drugs, all doses produced a conditioned place preference (CPP), even the dose of 2.5 mg kg-1, which did not modify the locomotor activity. Despite an equivalent locomotor stimulation, the magnitude of CPP induced by cocaine (10 mg kg-1) was greater than that induced by the same dose of GBR12783. This confirms the involvement of dopamine uptake inhibition in reward, but underlines differences in relative efficacies in rewarding and motor effects of both drugs and suggests that these two properties are, at least in part, separable anatomically or functionally.