LOW DOSE OF ETHANOL INDUCES CONDITIONED PLACE PREFERENCE IN RATS AFTER REPEATED EXPOSURES TO ETHANOL OR SALINE INJECTIONS

Abstract

Using the place conditioning paradigm (biased design), we have shown that five conditioning sessions with ethanol (0 5 or 1.0 g/kg, i p ) did not result in place conditioning. Similarly, 15 conditioning sessions with ethanol (1 0 g/kg) did not produce significant place conditioning response. In contrast, rats that received 20 injections of ethanol (0 5 g/kg) or saline, before the conditioning procedure, showed significant place preference to the compartment paired with 0.5 g/kg ethanol (but not 1 0 g/kg).