Conditioned place aversion to the “hangover” phase of acute ethanol administration in the rat

Morse, Andrew C; Schulteis, Gery; Holloway, Frank A; Koob, George F

« Previous Next »Alcohol
Volume 22, Issue 1 , Pages 19-24, August 2000

Conditioned place aversion to the “hangover” phase of acute ethanol administration in the rat

Andrew C Morse
- Department of Neuropharmacology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA
- Department of Anesthesiology, University of California San Diego and San Diego VA Medical Center, San Diego, CA 92093, USA
- Corresponding author. Department of Neuropharmacology, The Scripps Research Institute, 10550 North Torrey Pines Road, Maildrop CVN-7, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA. Tel.: +1-858-784-7305 ext. 4492; fax: +1-858-784-7405
Gery Schulteis
- Department of Neuropharmacology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA
- Department of Anesthesiology, University of California San Diego and San Diego VA Medical Center, San Diego, CA 92093, USA
Frank A Holloway
- Psychobiology Research Laboratories, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK 73190, USA
George F Koob
- Department of Neuropharmacology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA

Received 19 November 1999; received in revised form 15 May 2000; accepted 22 May 2000.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine ethanol's delayed effects (termed hangover) using conditioned place testing. Four groups of rats received a single pairing of a distinctive environment (tactile and visual) 10 h after injection with ethanol (0, 2, 3, 4 g/kg, i.p.) or saline in a counterbalanced design. Rats receiving 3 and 4 g/kg ethanol showed a conditioned place aversion to ethanol hangover. Conditioning 10 h after 0 or 2 g/kg ethanol did not produce a significant place preference or aversion. The results suggest that the hangover following an acute injection of high doses of ethanol (3–4 g/kg) produces a significant and dose-related conditioned place aversion in the rat.

Keywords: Aversion, Withdrawal, Ethanol, Rat, Place conditioning