The maladaptive alcohol self-administration task: An adapted novel model of alcohol seeking with negative consequences

Abstract

The progression of recreational drinking to alcohol use disorder is characterized by loss of control over seeking, which involves continued use of alcohol despite negative consequences. The present study proposes a novel maladaptive alcohol self-administration task in which animals are trained to withhold alcohol drinking in the presence of an auditory cue signaling consequence (conflict phase) but to drink freely when there is no consequence (neutral phase). These phases are performed within trial; successful performance involves waiting for the conflict phase to end and drinking during the neutral phase. We discuss the background and implementation of the task, its relation to existing models, and its relevance to the field of translational alcohol research. Importantly, we also present evidence of its efficacy. Both male and female Long–Evans rats are capable of performing the maladaptive alcohol self-administration task for both sweetened and unsweetened alcohol solutions. Finally, we show that acute injection of a pharmacological stressor (yohimbine) significantly disrupted performance of the task in both sexes and reinforcers. We suggest the maladaptive alcohol self-administration task may prove particularly useful in models of alcohol use disorder or vulnerability to this disorder where its application may reveal maladaptive neural circuit adaptations responsible for motivational perturbations associated with loss of control over alcohol seeking.