Abstract
The necessity of delivering a highly reinforcing stimulus (20% sucrose) contingent upon ethanol consumption in order to induce ethanol self-administration in free-feeding rats was investigated. Rats water deprived for 12-16 h were placed in an environment in which ethanol drinking resulted in the presentation of ethanol. This procedure was successful in inducing and maintaining ethanol self-administration over concentrations of 5-20% (v/v). Compared to a group of rats initially reinforced for drinking ethanol with sucrose presentation, contingent ethanol delivery resulted in greater ethanol self-administration behavior. When 20% ethanol was available the group trained with ethanol had average intake of 0.91 g/kg, whereas the group trained with sucrose had a mean intake of 0.69 g/kg in a 30-min session. The results suggest that ethanol's reinforcing properties are sufficient to establish ethanol self-administration within the context of the inducing environment.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 361-368 |
Number of pages | 8 |
Journal | Drug and Alcohol Dependence |
Volume | 16 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Feb 1986 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Alcohol
- Alcohol self-administration
- Rats
- Reinforcement
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Toxicology
- Pharmacology
- Psychiatry and Mental health
- Pharmacology (medical)