Mice Bred for Severity of Acute Alcohol Withdrawal Respond Differently in a Go/No-Go Task

• Published in: Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research clinical and experimental research, 2013-09, Vol.37 (9), p.1483-1490
• Main Authors: Moschak, Travis M., Stang, Katherine A., Mitchell, Suzanne H.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Alcohol; Alcohol Drinking - genetics; Alcohol Drinking - physiopathology; Alcohol Drinking - psychology; Animals; Behavioral Inhibition; Breeding - methods; Ethanol - administration & dosage; Female; Go/No-Go; Impulsivity; Male; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Mice, Inbred DBA; Psychomotor Performance - drug effects; Psychomotor Performance - physiology; Selected Lines; Severity of Illness Index; Substance Withdrawal Syndrome - genetics; Substance Withdrawal Syndrome - physiopathology; Substance Withdrawal Syndrome - psychology
• ISSN: 0145-6008; 1530-0277
• DOI: 10.1111/acer.12134

Background Mice selectively bred for high or low withdrawal to acute alcohol differ on a number of traits, including consumption of alcohol, conditioned place preference for alcohol, and sensitivity to alcohol‐induced locomotor activity. One trait that has not been examined in these mice is behavioral inhibition. Methods High and low alcohol withdrawal mice (second replicate: high and low acute alcohol withdrawal [HAW‐2/LAW‐2]) were trained and tested in a Go/No‐go task. Mice were administered 0.0, 0.5, 1.0, and 1.5 g/kg ethanol (EtOH) on 3 occasions according to an incomplete Latin Square. A separate cohort of C57BL/6J (B6) and DBA/2J (D2) mice (the progenitor strains for HAW‐2/LAW‐2 mice) underwent the same protocol, using the same EtOH doses. Results HAW‐2 and LAW‐2 mice did not differ in behavioral inhibition at baseline, although LAW‐2 mice did have higher overall levels of responding in the task. EtOH did not alter behavioral inhibition in these mice. However, it did decrease responses to the Go cue, and this effect was greater in HAW‐2 mice than in LAW‐2 mice. D2 mice had lower behavioral inhibition than B6 mice at baseline, and EtOH slightly decreased behavioral inhibition in both strains. Conclusions The findings with D2 and B6 mice generally fit with the existing literature. However, the lack of a difference in behavioral inhibition between HAW‐2 and LAW‐2 mice was unexpected, as well as the absence of any effect of these doses of EtOH on behavioral inhibition in these mice. Nonetheless, the findings do suggest that selectively breeding for high or low withdrawal to acute alcohol can lead to differences in operant behavior in the Go/No‐go task.