Locomotor activity but not conditioned place preference is differentially affected by a moderate dose of ethanol administered to P and NP rats.

The conditioned place preference (CPP) test and spontaneous motor activity were used in order to determine if ethanol-preferring (P) rats differ from ethanol nonpreferring (NP) rats after the administration of a moderate (1.0 g/kg) dose of ethanol. Results indicate that both of the selectively bred lines of rats found ethanol aversive, with little difference between the P and the NP rats. In contrast, the NP rats were shown to be more sensitive to the motor-impairing effect of ethanol.