Performance in the cross-maze and slip funnel tests of four pairs of rat lines selectively bred for divergent alcohol drinking behavior.

Abstract

Alcohol naive rats from lines genetically selected for high and low alcohol drinking and founded on either Wistar (P/NP lines) and distinct heterogeneous stocks (AA/ANA and replicate HAD/LAD lines) were tested in the explorative cross-maze and the inescapable slip funnel. Rats of the low alcohol-consuming ANA, NP, LAD1 and LAD2 lines all exhibited a shorter latency before initiating exploration of the maze than did their high alcohol-consuming counterparts (66, 51, 33 and 51% of the values for AA, P, HAD1 and HAD2 lines, respectively). Significant line differences were also found with the slip funnel test (AA > ANA for time in a sprawling posture; P > NP but HAD1 < LAD1 and HAD2 < LAD2 for time escaping), but the directions of line differences were not consistently related to those in alcohol drinking.