Beer-based flavor conditioned preference increases 24 hours

ORELLANA BARRERA, ESTEFANIA; PETRAZZINI, LUCRECIA; LESTA, LIZ GABRIELA; ABATE, PAULA; GONZALEZ REYES, FELISA

Congreso; XXV International Congress of the Spanish Society for Comparative Psychology; 2013

This study presents an animal model of ethanol-conditioned flavor preference with voluntary, intermittent consumption. The use of beer as US increases the ecological validity of the model and it is thought to promote high levels of ethanol intake in adolescent rats. Nondeprived male Wistar rats (PD28-30) were given different solutions using nonalcoholic beer as vehicle. One flavor (CS+) was presented with ethanol while the other was presented in absence of the drug (CS-). Different 30-min CS+ vs. CS- preference tests were conducted. Then animals were exposed to a single episode of restraint (as stressful event), and preference for the CS+ flavor was evaluated after both 30-min and 24-h temporal intervals. Animals were divided in two different groups; one of them was given a CS+/EtOH vs. CSchoice test, whereas the other received a CS+ vs. CS- choice test. Although a clear preference for the CS+ over the CS- was not evident in any of the two tests, preference for the CS+ increased between tests. However, this enhancement of the preference was not observed when animals were given a CS+/EtOH vs. CS- choice test, suggesting that the low palatability of ethanol may prevent its expression.