Genetic selection of alcohol preference can be countered by conditioning processes.
Twenty-four P rats and 24 NP rats were conditioned to consume 10% w/v alcohol in daily 0.5-h limited access periods using a modified version of Samson's sucrose fading procedure. Both P and NP rats demonstrated a strikingly similar day-to-day pattern of alcohol intakes. For the most part, P rats drank more than NP rats, but by the middle of the fourth month of drinking, P and NP rats were drinking equivalent amounts of alcohol. Both P and NP rats consumed alcohol in amounts similar to two outbred strains of rats (Wistar and Sprague-Dawley) previously conditioned to drink alcohol in this laboratory.
Gauvin
D V
DV
Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City 73190-3000, USA. dgauvin@rex.re.uokhsc.edu
Vanecek
S A
SA
Baird
T J
TJ
Briscoe
R J
RJ
Vallett
M
M
Holloway
F A
FA
D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000235:genetics*; D000818:Animals; D003213:Conditioning, Psychological; D000431:Ethanol / Q000008:administration & dosage; D005518:Food Preferences; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D012996:Solutions; D013395:Sucrose / Q000008:administration & dosage
D012996:Solutions; D000431:Ethanol; D013395:Sucrose