The effects of ethanol on a measure of conditioned fear in mice

The effects of ethanol on conditioned freezing, a species-specific defensive behavior used as an assay of fear, was examined in mice. In Experiment 1, ethanol, 1.2 g/kg, significantly increased freezing compared to a saline control when the mice were reexposed to a context in which they were previously shocked. Experiment 2, which administered ethanol or saline to no-shock control animals, demonstrated that the potentiated freezing produced by ethanol in Experiment 1 was specific to the interaction of ethanol and the stress response. These results suggest that both the qualitative and quantitative dimensions of the environmental stressor, as well as the dose of ethanol used, may be critical for determining ethanol's effect on a stress response.