Acute ethanol counteracts the acquisition of aversive olfactory learning in infant rats
| Autor: | Ricardo Marcos Pautassi, Juan Carlos Molina, Carla Melloni, Luciano Federico Ponce |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2005 |
| Předmět: |
medicine.medical_specialty
Health (social science) medicine.drug_class Avoidance response Toxicology Biochemistry Anxiolytic Behavioral Neuroscience chemistry.chemical_compound Internal medicine Avoidance Learning medicine Animals Rats Wistar Intubation Gastrointestinal Ethanol Dose-Response Relationship Drug Acute ethanol Central Nervous System Depressants General Medicine Rats Associative learning Smell Dose–response relationship Endocrinology Neurology chemistry Odor Anesthesia Cues Olfactory Learning Psychology Alcoholic Intoxication Reinforcement Psychology |
| Zdroj: | Alcohol. 36:99-105 |
| ISSN: | 0741-8329 |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.alcohol.2005.07.005 |
| Popis: | Rodents are particularly prone to acquire associative memories during early stages of life. Yet, very little is known about how ethanol interacts with simultaneous associative learning acquired during postabsorptive periods. We have recently observed that preweanling rats avoid lemon odor previously paired with the intraoral infusion of a sapid sweet solution, a result likely to be caused by aversive consequences inherent to this procedure. Two experiments were conducted to analyze the effects of acute ethanol upon the acquisition of this avoidance response. Fourteen-day-old Wistar rats were intragastrically administered with ethanol (0.0, 0.25, 0.5, or 1.25 g/kg) and then exposed for 5 min to a lemon-scented chamber while being intraorally infused with sucrose (12% vol/vol). Four of such pairings were conducted immediately after ethanol administration. Control pups experienced these stimuli in an unrelated fashion. On postnatal day 15 animals were tested in a 5-min, two-way odor-preference test. Pups administered with vehicle during the acquisition phase exhibited a strong aversion to the lemon odor relative to control subjects. This avoidance response was reduced in pups that received 0.5 and 1.25 g/kg doses, whereas it completely vanished in those that received 0.25 g/kg dose. In a second experiment it was observed that, 10 min after the administration, blood ethanol concentrations attained with the 0.25, 0.5, and 1.25 g/kg doses were 11, 39, and 83 mg%, respectively. These data indicate that a very low dose of ethanol is able to counteract early aversive associative learning, a result likely to be mediated by anxiolytic properties of ethanol. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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