Repeated withdrawal from ethanol on radial arm acquisition in rats.
Male rats were treated with ethanol (8.0-12.0 g/kg/day) for four 2 week periods interrupted every 2 weeks by a 2 week period of no drug treatment. Thus they experienced withdrawal from ethanol four times. Other rats were treated with ethanol for 8 weeks with no interruptions, to control for the total dose and duration of drug treatment. Acquisition of an eight-arm radial maze response when daily ethanol treatment was ended, was not affected by either the experience of four withdrawals from ethanol or by 8 weeks of ethanol treatment. The lack of withdrawal-induced impairment can be attributed to a lack of sensitivity in the maze task to possible withdrawal-induced deficits and to an insufficient duration of ethanol dependence.
Maier
D M
DM
Center of Alcohol Studies, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ 08854.
Pohorecky
L A
LA
D000437:Alcoholism / Q000503:physiopathology; D000818:Animals; D000431:Ethanol / Q000009:adverse effects*; D007858:Learning / Q000187:drug effects*; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D013375:Substance Withdrawal Syndrome
D000431:Ethanol