title: Alcohol-Preferring Rats Show Goal Oriented Behaviour to Food Incentives but Are Neither Sign-Trackers Nor Impulsive.
abstract: Drug addiction is often associated with impulsivity and altered behavioural responses to both primary and conditioned rewards. Here we investigated whether selectively bred alcohol-preferring (P) and alcohol-nonpreferring (NP) rats show differential levels of impulsivity and conditioned behavioural responses to food incentives. P and NP rats were assessed for impulsivity in the 5-choice serial reaction time task (5-CSRTT), a widely used translational task in humans and other animals, as well as Pavlovian conditioned approach to measure sign- and goal-tracking behaviour. Drug-naïve P and NP rats showed similar levels of impulsivity on the 5-CSRTT, assessed by the number of premature, anticipatory responses, even when the waiting interval to respond was increased. However, unlike NP rats, P rats were faster to enter the food magazine and spent more time in this area. In addition, P rats showed higher levels of goal-tracking responses than NP rats, as measured by the number of magazine nose-pokes during the presentation of a food conditioned stimulus. By contrast, NP showed higher levels of sign-tracking behaviour than P rats. Following a 4-week exposure to intermittent alcohol we confirmed that P rats had a marked preference for, and consumed more alcohol than, NP rats, but were not more impulsive when re-tested in the 5-CSRTT. These findings indicate that high alcohol preferring and drinking P rats are neither intrinsically impulsive nor do they exhibit impulsivity after exposure to alcohol. However, P rats do show increased goal-directed behaviour to food incentives and this may be associated with their strong preference for alcohol.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology and Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge, Downing St, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Yolanda
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Peña-Oliver
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology and Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge, Downing St, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Chiara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Giuliano
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology and Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge, Downing St, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Daina
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Economidou
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, Indianapolis, Indiana, United States of America.
authors.forename: Charles R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Goodlett
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology and Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge, Downing St, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Trevor W
authors.initials: TW
authors.lastname: Robbins
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology and Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge, Downing St, Cambridge, United Kingdom; Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Jeffrey W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Dalley
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology and Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge, Downing St, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Barry J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Everitt
mesh_terms: D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000503:physiopathology*; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000503:physiopathology; D000818:Animals; D002755:Choice Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D004326:Drinking / Q000502:physiology; D000431:Ethanol / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D005502:Food; D005518:Food Preferences / Q000502:physiology*; D006040:Goals; D007175:Impulsive Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation / Q000502:physiology; D051381:Rats; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D012201:Reward
chemical_list: D000431:Ethanol