Ethanol preference following hypothalamic stimulation: relation to stimulation parameters and energy balance.
Rats were given 5, 10, 20 and 30 min daily sessions of lateral hypothalamic stimulation. Approximately half of the rats showed a large and highly significant increase in their total intake of and preference for 10% v/v ethanol which was continuously available in their home cages. In terms of latency, total consumption and preference for ethanol, 10 min of daily stimulation produced a much greater enhancement than did 30 min. The ethanol drinking rats used more energy per unit of body weight which suggests that the stimulation and/or the ethanol itself may have increased energy expenditure. Simply changing the diet from powdered chow to identical composition pellets produced a large reduction in both total ethanol intake and preference. Reinstating the powdered diet produced a rapid reinstatement of ethanol drinking. These data are discussed in terms of ethanol's role in modulating stimulation induced changes in energy balance.
D000428:Alcohol Drinking; D000818:Animals; D001835:Body Weight / Q000187:drug effects; D002755:Choice Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D004032:Diet; D004327:Drinking Behavior / Q000502:physiology; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D004734:Energy Metabolism; D007031:Hypothalamus / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains