Conditioned Flavor Cues Associated with Alcohol-Drinking during Adolescence Affect The Incentive Properties of The Cue in Adulthood

Authors' Affiliations

ETSU Department of Psychology, Johnson City, TN.

Location

Culp Ballroom

Start Date

4-7-2022 9:00 AM

End Date

4-7-2022 12:00 PM

Poster Number

116

Faculty Sponsor’s Department

Psychology

Name of Project's Faculty Sponsor

Gerald Deehan

Classification of First Author

Undergraduate Student

Competition Type

Competitive

Type

Poster Presentation

Project's Category

Neuroscience, Catecholamines, Chromatography

Abstract or Artist's Statement

Alcohol-use disorders affect 15 million people nationwide, 4% of which are adolescents (12-17). Clinical data indicate that adolescents who binge drink greatly increase their likelihood of exhibiting an alcohol-use disorder later in life. Moreover, research indicates that cues (i.e., flavors, etc.) paired with alcohol (EtOH) drinking produce significant cue-induced alcohol craving and contribute to increased probability of relapse. The current study sought to determine the effect of adolescent exposure to flavor cues, paired with EtOH, on flavor cue-induced EtOH-seeking in adulthood. Four groups of adolescent, EtOH naïve, male alcohol-preferring (P) rats had 24-hour access to 3 bottles for two weeks (postnatal day; PND 28-41); (paired group: 0.1% blueberry flavor extract (BB) + 15% v/v EtOH, and two water; unpaired group: 0.1% BB, 15% v/v EtOH, and water; EtOH alone: 15% EtOH and two water; BB alone: 0.1% BB and two water). Following home-cage access, all rats were transferred to operant chambers for daily operant sipper training sessions (PND 42-50). Paired animals could consume 0.1% BB + 15% EtOH or water, unpaired animals could consume 0.1% BB or 15% EtOH, the EtOH alone group had access to 15% EtOH and water while the BB alone group had access to 0.1% BB or water. All animals then remained in their home-cage with access to only water until adulthood. On PND 90, animals were returned to the operant chambers and provided access to 0.1% BB or water (no alcohol) to examine drinking behavior in response to access to the BB cue alone. After operant testing, all animals underwent stereotaxic surgery for microdialysis testing to examine cue-induced dopamine (DA) release in the nucleus accumbens shell (AcbSh). During adolescence, all EtOH groups consumed similar levels of EtOH. When tested for cue-induced operant drinking, paired rats exhibited significantly higher consumption of BB flavor cue (no alcohol) compared to all other groups. Neurochemical data indicated that animals in the pairedgroup exhibited a significantly higher level of DA efflux in the AcbSh compared to all other groups. Overall, the data suggest cue/EtOH associations formed during adolescence may result in enduring behavioral and neurobiological alterations that contribute to increased EtOH-craving, and/or -seeking later in life.

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Apr 7th, 9:00 AM Apr 7th, 12:00 PM

Conditioned Flavor Cues Associated with Alcohol-Drinking during Adolescence Affect The Incentive Properties of The Cue in Adulthood

Culp Ballroom

Alcohol-use disorders affect 15 million people nationwide, 4% of which are adolescents (12-17). Clinical data indicate that adolescents who binge drink greatly increase their likelihood of exhibiting an alcohol-use disorder later in life. Moreover, research indicates that cues (i.e., flavors, etc.) paired with alcohol (EtOH) drinking produce significant cue-induced alcohol craving and contribute to increased probability of relapse. The current study sought to determine the effect of adolescent exposure to flavor cues, paired with EtOH, on flavor cue-induced EtOH-seeking in adulthood. Four groups of adolescent, EtOH naïve, male alcohol-preferring (P) rats had 24-hour access to 3 bottles for two weeks (postnatal day; PND 28-41); (paired group: 0.1% blueberry flavor extract (BB) + 15% v/v EtOH, and two water; unpaired group: 0.1% BB, 15% v/v EtOH, and water; EtOH alone: 15% EtOH and two water; BB alone: 0.1% BB and two water). Following home-cage access, all rats were transferred to operant chambers for daily operant sipper training sessions (PND 42-50). Paired animals could consume 0.1% BB + 15% EtOH or water, unpaired animals could consume 0.1% BB or 15% EtOH, the EtOH alone group had access to 15% EtOH and water while the BB alone group had access to 0.1% BB or water. All animals then remained in their home-cage with access to only water until adulthood. On PND 90, animals were returned to the operant chambers and provided access to 0.1% BB or water (no alcohol) to examine drinking behavior in response to access to the BB cue alone. After operant testing, all animals underwent stereotaxic surgery for microdialysis testing to examine cue-induced dopamine (DA) release in the nucleus accumbens shell (AcbSh). During adolescence, all EtOH groups consumed similar levels of EtOH. When tested for cue-induced operant drinking, paired rats exhibited significantly higher consumption of BB flavor cue (no alcohol) compared to all other groups. Neurochemical data indicated that animals in the pairedgroup exhibited a significantly higher level of DA efflux in the AcbSh compared to all other groups. Overall, the data suggest cue/EtOH associations formed during adolescence may result in enduring behavioral and neurobiological alterations that contribute to increased EtOH-craving, and/or -seeking later in life.