Measuring the Aversive Effects of Alcohol Withdrawal

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): It has been hypothesized that the aversive motivational effects of alcohol withdrawal can contribute to alcohol drinking; however, it is not clear whether these aversive effects increase or decrease drinking. The broad, long-term objective of this R03 Small Grant proposal is to develop a sensitive and reliable place conditioning technique to measure the aversive motivational effects of alcohol withdrawal in mice. The goal of Specific Aim 1 is to identify conditioning parameters that will produce a conditioned place aversion to alcohol withdrawal in mice. This goal will be achieved by manipulating conditioning session duration, tine of conditioning during alcohol withdrawal, number of conditioning trials, and alcohol dose. The goal of Specific Aim 2 is to investigate the underlying mechanisms that contribute to the aversive effects of alcohol withdrawal and to manipulate the strength of conditioned place aversion to alcohol withdrawal. This goal will be achieved by examining the effect of a behavioral manipulation (convulsion induction) and a pharmacological manipulation (GABAA receptor antagonism) on the magnitude of conditioned place aversion to alcohol withdrawal. The development of a new place conditioning technique to measure aversive effects of alcohol withdrawal in mice will provide the basic methodology to be used in a subsequent R01 application that will examine genetic and neurobiological relationships between sensitivity to aversive motivational effects of alcohol withdrawal and alcohol drinking behavior in a genetic mouse model of alcoholism. This place conditioning technique will be a valuable tool for the alcohol research community to study the underlying mechanisms that contribute to differences in sensitivity to the aversive effects of alcohol withdrawal. Studies using this place conditioning technique are likely to provide important information that will lead to the development of novel behavioral and pharmacological treatments for alcoholism.