Context is a trigger for relapse to alcohol.
The environment in which alcohol consumption occurs may trigger later relapse in alcohol abusers. In this study, we tested whether an alcohol-associated environment would induce alcohol-seeking behavior. Male rats were trained to lever press for oral alcohol reinforcement in a distinctive context. Responding was then extinguished in a context with different olfactory, visual and tactile properties. Placement of the rats back into the original context in which they self-administered alcohol induced, in the absence of alcohol availability, a significant increase in lever press responding on the alcohol lever as compared to extinction levels of responding. The ability of the alcohol context to support alcohol-seeking behavior was maintained over 3 weeks, with no significant diminution. A second group of rats was trained to lever press for sucrose reinforcement; this group also demonstrated context-dependent reinstatement, although the degree of reinstatement decreased over repeated tests, returning to extinction values after 3 weeks. These findings indicate that contextual conditioning has a long-term impact on ethanol-seeking behavior after ethanol withdrawal. This animal model may be useful to study the neural mechanisms underlying relapse induced by ethanol-associated contexts in humans.
Zironi
Isabella
I
Department of Human and General Physiology, University of Bologna, Via San Donato 19/2, 40127 Bologna, Italy. zironi@biocfarm.unibo.it
Burattini
Costanza
C
Aicardi
Giorgio
G
Janak
Patricia H
PH
D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000523:psychology*; D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D002492:Central Nervous System Depressants / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D003214:Conditioning, Classical / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D000431:Ethanol / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D005106:Exploratory Behavior / Q000187:drug effects; D005108:Extinction, Psychological / Q000187:drug effects; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D012054:Reinforcement, Psychology; D012646:Self Administration; D013395:Sucrose / Q000008:administration & dosage; D013549:Sweetening Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage
D002492:Central Nervous System Depressants; D013549:Sweetening Agents; D000431:Ethanol; D013395:Sucrose