Ethanol-induced locomotor activity in adolescent rats and the relationship with ethanol-induced conditioned place preference and conditioned taste aversion

ACEVEDO MB; NIZHNIKOV ME; SPEAR NE; MOLINA J.C.,; PAUTASSI RM

DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOBIOLOGY

JOHN WILEY & SONS INC

Lugar: New York; Año: 2012

0012-1630

Adolescent rats exhibit ethanol-induced locomotor activity (LMA), which is considered an index of ethanol?s motivational properties likely to predict ethanol self-administration, but few studies have reported or correlated ethanol-induced LMA with conditioned place preference by ethanol at this age. The present study assessed age-related differences in ethanol?s motor stimulating effects and analysed the association between ethanol-induced LMA and conventional measures of ethanol-induced reinforcement. Experiment 1 compared ethanol-induced LMA in adolescent and adult rats. Subsequent experiments analyzed ethanol-induced conditioned place preference and conditioned taste aversion in adolescent rats evaluated for ethanol-induced LMA. Adolescent rats exhibit a robust LMA after high-dose ethanol. Ethanol-induced LMA was fairly similar across adolescents and adults. As expected, adolescents were sensitive to ethanol?s aversive reinforcement, but they also exhibited conditioned place preference. These measures of ethanol reinforcement, however, were not related to ethanol-induced LMA. Spontaneous LMA in an open field was, however, negatively associated with ethanol-induced CTA.