Changes in alcohol intake resulting from prior experiences with alcohol odor in young rats

Twenty-one day old rats were exposed to either alcohol or lemon odor, paired or unpaired with lithium chloride (LiCl) induced toxicosis, and were tested 7 days later for odor preferences and ethanol intake. Additional control groups received neither the conditioned nor the unconditioned stimuli and were merely tested on either odor preference or alcohol consumption. Ethanol odor exposure per se resulted in an enhanced ingestion of a 5.6% ethanol solution. This effects was attenuated by pairing such exposure with internal malaise. Furthermore, ethanol odor-LiCl pairings decreased olfactory preferences for ethanol relative to lemon odor, whereas lemon-LiCl pairings increased ethanol odor preference relative to lemon odor. Order of testing also affected odor preferences. Rats previously tested on ethanol consumption demonstrated a strong rejection of the alcohol odor when compared to rats initially tested in the olfactory task. These results suggest that early learned and unlearned experiences with alcohol odor can not only affect subsequent ethanol odor preferences but can also lead to significant changes in alcohol consumption.