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Updated: Jun 24, 2026
09:26
Disruption of Frontal Lobe Neural Synchrony During Cognitive Control by Alcohol Intoxication
Published on: February 6, 2019
Cued unpredictable intermittent access exacerbates loss of control over ethanol drinking
Eric H Mitten1, Jada M Caldwell1, Gerardo Zambrano1
1Center for Alcohol Research in Epigenetics, Department of Psychiatry, University of Illinois Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.
Biorxiv : the Preprint Server for Biology
|April 10, 2026
Summary
Unpredictable, intermittent access to ethanol (uIntA) in rats increased alcohol use disorder symptoms, including escalated consumption and aversion-resistant drinking, compared to continuous access. This preclinical model offers new insights into loss of control over drinking.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Behavioral Science
- Pharmacology
Background:
- Loss of control over drinking is a key feature of alcohol use disorder (AUD).
- Preclinical models often use escalated ethanol consumption and aversion-resistant drinking to study AUD.
- The effect of within-session unpredictable, intermittent access (uIntA) on voluntary ethanol consumption in AUD models was previously unknown.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of unpredictable, intermittent access (uIntA) on ethanol consumption and AUD-related behaviors in rats.
- To compare uIntA with continuous access (ContA) in a preclinical model of alcohol dependence.
Main Methods:
- Male and female Long-Evans rats were exposed to daily voluntary ethanol (20% v/v) drinking sessions under either ContA or uIntA schedules for seven weeks.
- Dependence was induced via chronic intermittent ethanol vapor exposure.
- Aversion-resistant drinking was assessed by adulterating ethanol with quinine.
Main Results:
- Both ContA and uIntA groups showed similar baseline ethanol consumption.
- uIntA led to a more significant escalation of ethanol consumption post-dependence induction compared to ContA.
- uIntA promoted aversion-resistant drinking in ethanol-dependent rats, unlike ContA.
Conclusions:
- uIntA exacerbates AUD-related symptomatology, including escalated and aversion-resistant drinking, compared to ContA.
- uIntA serves as a valuable tool for researchers to study psychological and neurobiological factors in loss of control over drinking.
- This model enhances the assessment of motivation and drinking patterns without increasing experimental burden.
Keywords:
aversion-resistant drinkingcontinuous accessdiscriminative stimulusescalation of ethanol consumptionestimated blood ethanol concentrationethanol availabilitylick microstructureMore Related Videos
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