Effects of an alcohol diet on locomotor activity and the acquisition of brain self-stimulation in rats

Abstract

Male rats (n = 45), implanted with stimulating electrodes in the lateral hypothalamus for intracranial self-stimulation (ICSS), were allocated to three groups equalized for body weights. One group was given an alcohol liquid diet (Lieber-DeCarli) diet as the sole source of food; a second group was given a control liquid diet in which carbohydrates were substituted for alcohol; and a third group was maintained on standard laboratory chow and water. After four weeks on these diets, all animals were tested during the fifth week of the diets for locomotor activity in five daily 15-min sessions, and their reactivity to handling was also measured. During the sixth and seventh weeks of the diets, animals were allowed to self-train for ICSS during daily 15-min sessions. In the eighth week blood alcohol levels were measured. There were no differences between groups in locomotor activity or reactivity to handling. However, when tested for the acquisition of ICSS, animals on the diet containing alcohol made fewer responses than did those receiving the two control diets (p less than 0.001). The mean blood level of alcohol in the alcohol-consuming group at the time of day of behavioral testing was 50.6 +/- 5.0 mg/dl. These results suggested that the chronic ingestion of an alcohol-containing diet which resulted in only moderate blood levels of alcohol may not affect simple behavior such as locomotor activity, but may produce decrements in the performance of a more complex task such as lever pressing for ICSS.