Giri Atanu, Heaton Cory N, Batson Serina A, Macias Andrea Y, Reyes Neftali F, Salcido Alexis A, Davila Luis D, Rakocevic Lara I, Beck Dirk W, Ibañez Alcalá Raquel J, Hossain Safa B, Vara Paulina, Drammis Sabrina M, Negishi Kenichiro, O'Dell Laura E, Rosales Adrianna E, Moschak Travis M, Goosens Ki A, Friedman Alexander
Computational Science Program, University of Texas at El Paso, 500 W University Ave, El Paso, TX 79968, United States.
Department of Biological Sciences, University of Texas at El Paso, 500 W University Ave, El Paso, TX 79968, United States.
Alcohol Alcohol. 2025 Mar 25;60(3). doi: 10.1093/alcalc/agaf017.
We sought to explore how acute alcohol exposure alters decision-making in rats performing an approach-avoid decision-making task. Increasing concentrations of alcohol were mixed with decreasing concentrations of sucrose to mimic mixed/sweetened alcoholic beverages.
Rats were trained on an apparatus in which different concentrations of sucrose were available in four different corners of the arena. During daily sessions, a tone signaled each trial start, followed by illumination (15 lux, blue LEDs) of a single corner port, indicating the potential availability of sucrose at that location. The rat (one rat per arena, both females and males) then chose to approach the lit corner to have the solution dispensed or avoid it, with no solution being dispensed. We examined how the decisions to pursue sucrose rewards shifted with the addition and subsequent removal of ethanol from the sucrose ports.
Males were greatly affected by the introduction of alcohol into the task environment, shifting their approach preference to solutions containing higher alcohol concentrations rather than maintaining the prior preference for high-sucrose-concentration solutions. In contrast, females' choice patterns and task performance remained largely unchanged. We also explore a method for identifying changes in decision-making tendencies during and after alcohol consumption within individual subjects.
This research explores the introduction of alcohol in varying concentrations with sucrose solutions during an approach-avoid task, with male decision-making and behavioral patterns significantly impacted. We also explore a novel approach for identifying individual adaptations of decision-making behavior when alcohol becomes available, which could be expanded upon in future research.
我们试图探究急性酒精暴露如何改变执行趋近-回避决策任务的大鼠的决策过程。将浓度不断增加的酒精与浓度不断降低的蔗糖混合，以模拟混合/加甜酒精饮料。
在一种装置上训练大鼠，该装置的场地四个不同角落有不同浓度的蔗糖。在每日实验过程中，每次试验开始时会有一个提示音，随后单个角落端口亮起（15勒克斯，蓝色发光二极管），表明该位置可能有蔗糖。然后大鼠（每个场地一只大鼠，雌雄皆有）选择接近亮起的角落以获取溶液，或者避开它，此时不会有溶液流出。我们研究了在蔗糖端口添加乙醇并随后移除乙醇时，追求蔗糖奖励的决策是如何变化的。
雄性大鼠受到任务环境中引入酒精的极大影响，将其趋近偏好转向含有较高酒精浓度的溶液，而不是维持之前对高蔗糖浓度溶液的偏好。相比之下，雌性大鼠的选择模式和任务表现基本保持不变。我们还探索了一种在个体受试者饮酒期间和饮酒后识别决策倾向变化的方法。
本研究探讨了在趋近-回避任务期间将不同浓度酒精与蔗糖溶液混合的情况，雄性大鼠的决策和行为模式受到显著影响。我们还探索了一种识别酒精可用时决策行为个体适应性的新方法，未来研究可在此基础上进一步拓展。
