Ethanol and diazepam interactions on conflict behavior in rats

Twenty-four adult male rats trained on the Geller-Seifter conflict procedure received: 1.0, 2.0, or 4.0 mg/kg diazepam at 15 min, 0.25, 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, or 4.0 g/kg of ethanol (EtOH) at 30 min prior to the test session, or combinations of the same diazepam doses and 0.5 g/kg of EtOH. Ethanol administration produced a significant (p less than 0.05) dose-related decrease in lever pressing during the periods prior to the introduction of the tone stimulus, compared to lever pressing during the corresponding control periods on the day prior to drug treatment. During the posttone periods 0.25 g/kg increased lever pressing (p less than 0.05), while doses of EtOH from 0.5 to 4.0 g/kg resulted in significantly lower levels of lever pressing in periods following the discontinuation of the tone. In the presence of the conflict evoking tone stimulus, rats treated with 2.0 g/kg of EtOH increased their rate of lever pressing, while animals receiving the other EtOH doses exhibited lever pressing comparable to that observed during the corresponding control periods. Administration of EtOH had no effect on the number of reinforcements received during the entire test session, except for a significant (p less than 0.05) reduction at the highest dose of 4.0 g/kg. Diazepam increased the number of reinforcements received during the entire test session as compared to those obtained during control sessions. Lever pressing was not affected by diazepam treatment during pretone or tone periods. During the posttone periods responses were significantly (p less than 0.05) increased in rats receiving the lowest dose of 1.0 mg/kg of diazepam but the other doses were without effect.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)