Brain stimulation reward: effects of ethanol.

This paper briefly describes and compares the effects of ethanol with those of other abuse substances on brain stimulation reward. The most frequently observed effects of abuse substances on this phenomenon is an increase in sensitivity of the animal to the stimulation. This increased sensitivity to rewarding brain stimulation has been studied as a model of drug-induced euphoria. Although many studies have reported that ethanol does increase the sensitivity of animals to this stimulation, there is much less consistency in results between laboratories than observed with the abused opiates or psychomotor stimulants. Data is presented that suggests that associative factors, e.g., self- versus experimenter-administered ethanol, as well as route of administration and time of brain stimulation testing may all contribute to the variability in results obtained between laboratories. Further, the effects of ethanol on brain stimulation reward are more like those of other sedative-hypnotics than the opiates or psychomotor stimulants.