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Acoustic startle in alcohol-naïve male rats predicts subsequent voluntary alcohol intake and alcohol preference
Dennis D Rasmussen1, Carrie L Kincaid2
1VISN 20 Mental Illness Research Education and Clinical Center, VA Puget Sound Health Care System and University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA drasmuss@u.washington.edu.
Aims:
Acoustic startle response in rats is used to model sensorimotor reactivity. The aim of the study was to determine whether acoustic startle response in alcohol-naïve rats predicts subsequent increased voluntary alcohol drinking or alcohol preference.
Methods:
Startle responses to 90, 95 and 100 decibel (dB) white noise stimuli presented in counterbalanced semi-randomized order were tested in alcohol-naïve young adult male Wistar rats before voluntary alcohol intake was established with an intermittent alcohol access (IAA) model.
Results:
Startle amplitude in response to 95 or 100 dB stimuli was positively correlated with subsequent alcohol intake and alcohol preference following 3 months of IAA. Rats with high (median split) pre-IAA startle amplitude in response to 95 or 100 dB stimuli developed increased alcohol intake as well as increased alcohol preference following 3 months of IAA, relative to rats with low pre-IAA startle amplitude.
Conclusion:
Startle response to moderate acoustic stimuli can be a predictive index of vulnerability to developing increased alcohol drinking.
