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Oral Conditioned Cues Can Enhance or Inhibit Ethanol (Et OH )‐Seeking and Et OH ‐Relapse Drinking by Alcohol‐Preferring (P) Rats
Author(s) -
Knight Christopher P.,
Hauser Sheketha R.,
Deehan Gerald A.,
Toalston Jamie E.,
McBride William J.,
Rodd Zachary A.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
alcoholism: clinical and experimental research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.267
H-Index - 153
eISSN - 1530-0277
pISSN - 0145-6008
DOI - 10.1111/acer.13027
Subject(s) - extinction (optical mineralogy) , self administration , psychology , reinforcement , conditioning , context (archaeology) , flavor , ethanol , alcohol , chemistry , excitatory postsynaptic potential , addiction , pharmacology , developmental psychology , neuroscience , inhibitory postsynaptic potential , biochemistry , medicine , social psychology , biology , paleontology , mineralogy , statistics , mathematics
Background Conditioned cues can elicit drug‐seeking in both humans and rodents. The majority of preclinical research has employed excitatory conditioned cues (stimuli present throughout the availability of a reinforcer), but oral consumption of alcohol is similar to a conditional stimuli (presence of stimuli is paired with the delivery of the reinforcer) approach. The current experiments attempted to determine the effects of conditional stimuli (both excitatory and inhibitory) on the expression of context‐induced ethanol (Et OH )‐seeking. Methods Alcohol‐preferring (P) rats self‐administered Et OH and water in standard 2‐lever operant chambers. A flavor was added to the Et OH solution ( CS +) during the Et OH self‐administration sessions. After 10 weeks, rats underwent extinction training (7 sessions), followed by a 2‐week home cage period. Another flavor was present during extinction ( CS −). Rats were exposed to a third flavor in a non‐drug‐paired environment ( CS 0 ). Et OH ‐seeking was assessed in the presence of no cue, CS +, CS −, or CS 0 in the dipper previously associated with Et OH self‐administration (no Et OH available). Rats were maintained a week in their home cage before being returned to the operant chambers with access to Et OH (flavored with no cue, CS +, CS −, or CS 0 ). Results The results indicated that the presence of the CS + enhanced Et OH ‐seeking, while the presence of the CS − suppressed Et OH ‐seeking. Similarly, adding the CS − flavor to 15% Et OH reduced responding for Et OH while the CS + enhanced responding for Et OH during relapse testing. Conclusions Overall, the data indicate that conditional stimuli are effective at altering both Et OH ‐seeking behavior and Et OH ‐relapse drinking.