Bain G T, Kornetsky C
Laboratory of Behavioral Pharmacology, Boston University School of Medicine, MA 02118.
Alcohol. 1989 Nov-Dec;6(6):499-503. doi: 10.1016/0741-8329(89)90058-x.
The effects of orally self-administered ethanol (ETOH) on responding for rewarding brain stimulation were studied. Bipolar electrodes were implanted in either the lateral hypothalamic region of the medial forebrain bundle (MFB-LH) or the ventral tegmental area (VTA) of 6 male F-344 rats. After surgery subjects were trained in a continuous reinforcement procedure (CRF) for constant current rewarding brain stimulation. On alternate days subjects were allowed to drink an ethanol and sucrose solution (12% and 5%, respectively) for 30 min and subsequently tested on the brain stimulation procedure. All subjects showed facilitation of responding (increase in rate) after ingesting low to moderate doses of ETOH (0.4-1.7 g/kg). Depression of responding (decrease in rate) or return to baseline levels (control solution rate) was observed only in those subjects which ingested 2 g/kg or greater during the drinking period. These results indicate that low to moderate doses of self-administered ethanol will increase responding for rewarding brain stimulation. Further, the results suggest that this facilitation of responding is, at least in part, a function of the method of administration and/or the contingent nature of the ethanol delivery (self-administration).
研究了口服自行给药乙醇（ETOH）对因脑刺激奖赏而做出反应的影响。在6只雄性F-344大鼠的内侧前脑束外侧下丘脑区域（MFB-LH）或腹侧被盖区（VTA）植入双极电极。手术后，对实验对象进行恒定电流脑刺激奖赏的连续强化程序（CRF）训练。每隔一天，让实验对象饮用乙醇和蔗糖溶液（分别为12%和5%）30分钟，随后进行脑刺激程序测试。所有实验对象在摄入低至中等剂量的ETOH（0.4-1.7克/千克）后，反应均得到促进（速率增加）。仅在那些在饮用期间摄入2克/千克或更高剂量的实验对象中观察到反应抑制（速率降低）或恢复到基线水平（对照溶液速率）。这些结果表明，低至中等剂量的自行给药乙醇会增加因脑刺激奖赏而产生的反应。此外，结果表明这种反应促进至少部分是给药方法和/或乙醇给药的偶然性质（自行给药）的作用。
