Abstract
Rats were trained to bar-press for food and then received aversive Pavlovian conditioning following low doses of ethanol (0–1600 mg/kg in different groups). They were tested for Pavlovian conditioned suppression of barpressing 48 h, 7 days, and 14 days later following no additional differential treatments. The results showed that very low doses of ethanol (approximately 200 mg/kg) during training enhanced later conditioned suppression, whereas more moderate doses (800–1600 mg/kg) disrupted Pavlovian conditioning. These results parallel earlier observations that very low ethanol doses enhance Pavlovian conditioned eyeblink and heart rate responses in rabbits, and suggest that facilitation of Pavlovian conditioning may be a general effect of mild ethanol intoxication.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Annau Z, Kamin LJ (1961) The conditioned emotional response as a function of intensity of the US. J Comp Physiol Psychol 54:428–432.
Bammer G, Chesher GB (1982) An analysis of some effects of ethanol on performance in a passive avoidance task. Psychopharmacology 77:66–73.
Baum M (1971) Effect of alcohol on the resistance-to-extinction of an avoidance response: replication in mice. Physiol Behav 6:307–309.
Carpenter JA, Moore OK, Snyder CK, Lisansky ES (1961) Alcohol and higher-order problem solving. Q J Stud Alcohol 22:183–222.
Chesher GB (1974) Facilitation of avoidance acquisition in the rat by ethanol and its abolition by α-methyl-p-tyrosine. Psychopharmacologia 39:87–95.
Crow LT (1966) Effects of alcohol on conditioned avoidance responding. Physiol Behav 1:89–91.
Ellis FW (1966) Effect of ethanol on plasma corticosterone levels. J Pharmacol Exp Ther 153:121–127.
Frye GD, Breese GR (1981) An evaluation on the locomotor stimulating action of ethanol in rats and mice. Psychopharmacology 75:372–379.
Galizio M, Spencer BA, Smaltz SC, Sayed Y (1984) The effect of ethanol and naloxone on extinction of jump-up avoidance performance in rats. Alcohol 1:197–200.
Greeley J, Le DA, Poulos CX, Cappell H (1984) Alcohol is an effective cue in the conditional control of tolerance to alcohol. Psychopharmacology 83:159–162.
Hernandez LL, Powell DA (1986) Ethanol enhancement of Pavlovian conditioning: comparison with instrumental conditioning. Psychopharmacology 88:75–81.
Hernandez LL, Valentine JD (1989) Mild ethanol intoxication may enhance Pavlovian conditioning. Drug Dev Res (in press)
Hernandez LL, Valentine JD, Powell DA (1986) Ethanol enhancement of Pavlovian conditioning. Behav Neurosci 100:494–503.
Holloway FA (1972) State-dependent effects of ethanol on active and passive avoidance learning. Psychopharmacologia 25:238–261.
Karpicke J (1978) Directed approach responses and positive conditioned suppression in the rat. Anim Learn Behav 6:216–224.
Melchior CL, Tabakoff B (1985) Features of environment-dependent tolerance to ethanol. Psychopharmacology 87:94–100.
Mueller CW, Lisman SA, Spear E (1983) Alcohol enhancement of human memory: tests of consolidation and interference hypothesis. Psychopharmacology 80:226–230.
Parker ES, Morihisa JM, Wyatt RJ, Schwartz BL, Weingartner H (1981) The alcohol facilitation effect on memory: a dose-response study. Psychopharmacology 74:88–92.
Rietbrock VN, Abshagen U (1971) Pharmakokinetik und Stoffwechsel alipathischer alkohole. Arzneimittelforschung 21:1309–1319.
Ryback RS (1971) The continuum and specificity of the effects of alcohol on memory. Q J Stud Alcohol 32:995–1016.
Sahgal A, Wright C, Ferrier IN (1986) Desamino-d-arg8-vasopressin (DDAVP), unlike ethanol, has no effect on a boring visual vigilance task in humans. Psychopharmacology 90:58–63.
Scobie SR, Bliss DK (1974) Ethyl alcohol: relationships to memory for aversive learning in goldfish (Carassius auratus). J Comp Physiol Psychol 86:867–874.
Vigorito M, Ayres JJB (1987) Effect of naloxone on conditioned suppression in rats. Behav Neurosci 101:576–586.
Wenger JR, Tiffany TM, Bombardier C, Nicholls K, Woods SC (1981) Ethanol tolerance in the rat is learned. Science 213:575–577.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hernandez, L.L., Valentine, J.D. Enhancement of pavlovian conditioned suppression by mild ethanol intoxication. Psychopharmacology 97, 476–480 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00439551
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00439551