UNCONDITIONED SENSITIZATION AND CONDITIONED TOLERANCE TO THE STIMULATING EFFECT OF ETHANOL IN THE INFANT RAT.

CASTELLÓ, S.; REVILLO, D.; ARIAS, C.; MOLINA, J.C.

SAN SEBASTIAN

Congreso; XV INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF THE SPANISH SOCIETY FOR COMPARATIVE PSYCHOLOGY; 2013

SOCIEDAD ESPAÑOLA DE PSICOLOGIA COMPARADA

Relatively high ethanol doses induce acute locomotor stimulating effects in preweanling rats, an effect associated with its rewarding properties. The goal of the present work was to explore how the ethanol-mediated locomotor response is modulated by the context and by the chronic experience with the drug. Subjects were trained with ethanol (0 or 2.5 g/kg) between postnatal days (PDs) 8 and 12. Training was carried out in the presence or absence of an odor cue. Three days later (on PD 15) subjects were evaluated in response to ethanol or water in the presence of the odor cue. Repeated exposure to ethanol induced conditioned tolerance or unconditioned sensitization. Tolerance to the locomotor stimulating effect of ethanol was observed when the odor cue was presented during training and testing. Locomotor sensitization occurred when rats were trained in absence of the odor cue, in a different context than the one employed at testing. These results represent the first evidence of conditioned tolerance and unconditioned sensitization to the locomotor activating effect of ethanol in this ontogenetic period.