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