Dataset Information

Cue-alcohol associative learning in female rats.

ABSTRACT: The ability of environmental cues to trigger alcohol-seeking behaviors is believed to facilitate problematic alcohol use. We previously showed that the development of this cue-evoked alcohol approach reflects cue-alcohol learning and memory in the adult male rat; however, we do not know whether the same is true for similarly aged female rats. Consequently, adult Long-Evans female rats were allowed to drink unsweetened alcohol in the home cage (Monday, Wednesday, Friday; 24-h two-bottle choice; 5 weeks) and were subsequently split into two experimental groups: Paired and Unpaired. Groups were matched for ingested doses and alcohol bottle preference across the pre-conditioning home cage period. Both groups were trained in conditioning chambers using a Pavlovian procedure. For the Paired group, the chamber houselight was illuminated to signal access to an alcohol sipper. Houselight onset was yoked for the Unpaired group, but access to the alcohol sipper was scheduled to occur only during the intervening periods (in the absence of light). We found that in the Paired, but not Unpaired group, an alcohol approach reaction was conditioned to houselight illumination, and the level of cue-conditioned reactivity predicted drinking behavior within trials. Groups experienced equivalently low but non-negligible blood alcohol concentrations over the course of conditioning sessions. We conclude that cue-triggered alcohol-seeking behavior in adult female rats reflects associative learning about the relationship between alcohol availability and houselight illumination.

SUBMITTER: Cofresi RU

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6801064 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Similar Datasets

Project description:We are searching for common gene expression alteration in the hippocampus of animal models of learning disabilities and in post-mortem human tissues derived from patients with cognitive deficits. Our study has three phases. In phase I, we want to investigate the changes in gene expression in a transgenic mouse line that shows impairments in hippocampal-dependent learning. These animals are overexpressing the RNA-binding protein HuD in the forebrain under the control of the alpha CAMKinII promoter. For phase II, we plan to characterize the hippocampus of another animal model of learning disabilities: fetal alcohol exposed (FAE) rats. Last, for phase III, we would like to examine gene expression changes in the hippocampus and other tissues from patients with schizophrenia. To test our hypothesis, in phase 2 of our project, we propose to compare the pattern of gene expression in our mouse model with that in the hippocampus of rats prenatally exposed to alcohol (FAE model). Our hypothesis is that learning disabilities have common neural substrates regardless of the origin of the disability being genetic, environmental of a combination of these two. To test this hypothesis, we plan to examine the pattern of gene expression in the hippocampus of animals and humans with cognitive deficits and use bioinformatics tools to identify common changes in gene expression in three of such conditions: a genetic model (HuD transgenic mice), an environmental model (FAE rats) and a model for combined environmental and genetic effects (patients with schizophrenia). All the animals are adult male Sprague-Dawley rats (age 90-100 days). Animals were divided in three diet groups and three experimental treatment conditions (9 conditions altogether). Three groups of pregnant rat dams were placed on different diet regimens: a liquid diet containing 5% alcohol (A) groups, a control group fed an isocaloric liquid diet without alcohol (B) and a group of rats fed lab chow ad libitum (C). Offspring from each of these groups were allowed to grow until adulthood and placed into each of three training groups: a contextual fear conditioned group (1), a non-learning stress control group (2) and a naive/unhandled group (3). Hippocampi were dissected and used to isolate total RNA from each rat diet and training condition. Initially, we will submit 18 samples as follows: 10 samples from training group 1 and 8 samples from training group 3 (training group 2 will be analyzed at a later date). The diet assignment for the 18 samples is: 8 samples from group A, 6 samples of group B and 4 samples of group C. Please note that I was able to enter only the first 8 samples, as the sample list does not hold 18 samples altogether.

Dataset Information

Cue-alcohol associative learning in female rats.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets