Abstract
Background
Motivations for alcohol consumption often focus on ethanol’s purported prosocial effects: social enhancement and reduction of socially focused anxiety. Despite substantial research supporting prosocial effects, contrary research exists demonstrating alcohol-elicited antisocial and asocial behaviours. Additionally, evidence typically fails to delineate whether alcohol-induced prosocial effects are due to alcohol expectancies or pharmacological actions of ethanol. Studies exploring ethanol’s pharmacological effects on social behaviour and factors that modulate apparent contradictory prosocial versus asocial effects are lacking.
Objectives
This study investigated whether factors of age, ethanol dose and social fear modulate ethanol-induced pharmacological effects on sociability and social anxiety–like avoidance.
Methods
Experiments examined the acute effects of ethanol doses (0, 0.25, 0.8, 1.6 g/kg; i.p.) in adult (10-week-old) and adolescent (PND 31–33) C57BL/6J male mice on social interaction using a social fear conditioning paradigm. Control experiments assessed whether ethanol-induced effects were social-specific.
Results
In adult mice, no specific effects of ethanol on social avoidance were observed at any dose. However, high-dose ethanol (1.6 g/kg) suppressed social approach in all adult mice. In contrast, low-dose ethanol (0.25 g/kg) alleviated social avoidance in adolescent mice and no social suppression was observed at higher ethanol doses. Thus, higher doses of ethanol impair social behaviour in adult mice, whereas lower doses specifically alleviate social anxiety–like avoidance in adolescent mice.
Conclusions
Age, dose and social fear are critical modulators of acute ethanol-induced pharmacological effects on social behaviour. Inconsistencies in ethanol-induced social consequences appear at least partly mediated by pharmacological interactions—not solely alcohol expectancies.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
American Psychiatric Association (2013) Anxiety disorders diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders. Washington, DC
Bond A, Lader M (1986) The relationship between induced behavioural aggression and mood after the consumption of two doses of alcohol. Addiction 81:65–75
Bowen MT, Peters ST, Absalom N, Chebib M, Neumann ID, McGregor IS (2015) Oxytocin prevents ethanol actions at δ subunit-containing GABAA receptors and attenuates ethanol-induced motor impairment in rats. Proc Natl Acad Sci 112:3104–3109
Buckner JD, Schmidt NB, Lang AR, Small JW, Schlauch RC, Lewinsohn PM (2008) Specificity of social anxiety disorder as a risk factor for alcohol and cannabis dependence. J Psychiatr Res 42:230–239
Clark DM, McManus F (2002) Information processing in social phobia. Biol Psychiatry 51:92–100
Cooper ML (1994) Motivations for alcohol use among adolescents: development and validation of a four-factor model. Psychol Assess 6:117–128
Corazzini L, Filippin A, Vanin P (2015) Economic behavior under the influence of alcohol: an experiment on time preferences, risk-taking, and altruism. PLoS One 10:e0121530
Corbett R, Fielding S, Cornfeldt M, Dunn R (1991) GABAmimetic agents display anxiolytic-like effects in the social interaction and elevated plus maze procedures. Psychopharmacology 104:312–316
Crutzen R, Kuntsche E (2013) Validation of the four-dimensional structure of drinking motives among adults. Eur Addict Res 19:222–226
Cui C, Koob GF (2017) Titrating tipsy targets: the neurobiology of low-dose alcohol. Trends Pharmacol Sci 38:556–568
Dannenhoffer CA, Kim EU, Saalfield J, Werner DF, Varlinskaya EI, Spear LP (2018) Oxytocin and vasopressin modulation of social anxiety following adolescent intermittent ethanol exposure. Psychopharmacology 235:3065–3077
Dawson DA, Grant BF, Li T-K (2007) Impact of age at first drink on stress-reactive drinking. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 31:69–77
Dazzi L, Seu E, Cherchi G, Barbieri PP, Matzeu A, Biggio G (2007) Estrous cycle-dependent changes in basal and ethanol-induced activity of cortical dopaminergic neurons in the rat. Neuropsychopharmacology 32:892–901
Duke AA, Giancola PR, Morris DH, Holt JC, Gunn RL (2011) Alcohol dose and aggression: another reason why drinking more is a bad idea. J Stud Alcohol Drugs 72:34–43
Exum ML (2006) Alcohol and aggression: an integration of findings from experimental studies. J Crim Just 34:131–145
Fairbairn CE, Sayette MA (2014) A social-attributional analysis of alcohol response. Psychol Bull 140:1361–1382
Fillmore MT, Vogel-Sprott M (2000) Response inhibition under alcohol: effects of cognitive and motivational conflict. J Stud Alcohol 61:239–246
Freeman N, Friedman RS, Bartholow BD, Wulfert E (2010) Effects of alcohol priming on social disinhibition. Exp Clin Psychopharmacol 18:135–144
Gilbertson R, Ceballos NA, Prather R, Nixon SJ (2009) Effects of acute alcohol consumption in older and younger adults: perceived impairment versus psychomotor performance. J Stud Alcohol Drugs 70:242–252
Ginsburg BC, Javors MA, Friesenhahn G, Frontz M, Martinez G, Hite T, Lamb RJ (2008) Mouse breathalyzer. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 32:1181–1185
Gkika S, Wittkowski A, Wells A (2018) Social cognition and metacognition in social anxiety: a systematic review. Clinical Psychol Psychother 25:10–30
Goodman FR, Stiksma MC, Kashdan TB (2018) Social anxiety and the quality of everyday social interactions: the moderating influence of alcohol consumption. Behav Ther 49:373–387
Grant BF, Hasin DS, Blanco C, Stinson FS, Chou SP, Goldstein RB, ... & Huang B (2005). The epidemiology of social anxiety disorder in the United States: results from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions. J Clin Psychiatry, 66(11):1351-1361
Gulick D, Gould TJ (2009) Effects of ethanol and caffeine on behavior in C57BL/6 mice in the plus-maze discriminative avoidance task. Behav Neurosci 123:1271–1278
Heath J, Hardy-Vallée B (2015) Why do people behave immorally when drunk? Philos Explor 18:310–329
Hilakivi LA, Lister RG (1988) RO 15-4513 and FG 7142 reverse the reduction in social behavior caused by ethanol in mice. Eur J Pharmacol 154:109–113
Hilakivi LA, Lister RG (1989) Effect of ethanol on the social behavior of group-housed and isolated mice. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 13:622–625
Hilakivi LA, Durcan MJ, Lister RG (1989) Effects of caffeine on social behavior, exploration and locomotor activity: interactions with ethanol. Life Sci 44:543–553
Izquierdo I, Furini CRG, Myskiw JC (2016) Fear Memory. Physiol Rev 96: 695–750
Kaidanovich-Beilin O, Lipina T, Vukobradovic I, Roder J, Woodgett JR (2011) Assessment of social interaction behaviors. J Vis Exp, (48), e2473, https://doi.org/10.3791/2473
Kircshner, T.R., Sayette, M.A., Cohn, J.F., Moreland, R.L., & Levine, J.M. (2006). Effects of alcohol on group formation among male social drinkers. J Stud Alcohol, 67(5), 785-793
Kirsch IE (1999) How expectancies shape experience. American Psychological Association, Washington, D.C.
Kuntsche E, Knibbe R, Gmel G, Engels R (2005) Why do young people drink? A review of drinking motives. Clin Psychol Rev 25:841–861
Lessov CN, Palmer AA, Quick EA, Phillips TJ (2001) Voluntary ethanol drinking in C57BL/6J and DBA/2J mice before and after sensitization to the locomotor stimulant effects of ethanol. Psychopharmacology 155:91–99
Liljequist S, Ossowska K (1994) Genotypic differences in locomotor stimulation and dopaminergic activity following acute ethanol administration. Eur Neuropsychopharmacol 4:31–34
Lister RG, Hilakivi LA (1988) The effects of novelty, isolation, light and ethanol on the social behavior of mice. Psychopharmacology 96:181–187
Livy DJ, Parnell SE, West JR (2003) Blood ethanol concentration profiles: a comparison between rats and mice. Alcohol 29:165–171
Locci A, Geoffroy P, Miesch M, Mensah-Nyagan A-G, Pinna G (2017) Social isolation in early versus late adolescent mice is associated with persistent behavioral deficits that can be improved by neurosteroid-based treatment. Front Cell Neurosci 11:208
López-Cruz L, San-Miguel N, Bayarri P, Baqi Y, Müller CE, Salamone JD, Correa M (2016) Ethanol and caffeine effects on social interaction and recognition in mice: involvement of adenosine A2A and A1 receptors. Front Behav Neurosci, 10:206
Ma X-C, Jiang D, Jiang W-H, Wang F, Jia M, Wu J, Hashimoto K, Dang Y-H, Gao C-G (2011) Social isolation-induced aggression potentiates anxiety and depressive-like behavior in male mice subjected to unpredictable chronic mild stress. PLoS One 6:e20955
MacAndrew C, Edgerton RB (1969) Drunken comportment: a social explanation. Aldine Publishing Company, Chicago
Maguire J, Mody I (2007) Neurosteroid synthesis-mediated regulation of GABAA receptors: relevance to the ovarian cycle and stress. J Neurosci 27: 2155–2162
Maguire JL, Stell BM, Rafizadeh M, Mody I (2005) Ovarian cycle– 1002 linked changes in GABAA receptors mediating tonic inhibition alter 1003 seizure susceptibility and anxiety. Nat Neurosci 8: 797–804
Manchanda RK, Jaggi AS, Singh N (2011) Ameliorative potential of sodium cromoglycate and diethyldithiocarbamic acid in restraint stress-induced behavioral alterations in rats. Pharmacol Rep 63:54–63
Matochik JA (1988) Role of the main olfactory system in recognition between individual spiny mice. Physiol Behav 42:217–222
Matsumoto K, Pinna G, Puia G, Guidotti A, Costa E (2005) Social isolation stress-induced aggression in mice: a model to study the pharmacology of neurosteroidogenesis. Stress 8:85–93
Menon R, Grund T, Zoicas I, Althammer F, Fiedler D, Biermeier V, Bosch OJ, Hiraoka Y, Nishimori K, Eliava M (2018) Oxytocin signaling in the lateral septum prevents social fear during lactation. Curr Biol 28:1066–1078 e6
Mitchell IJ, Beck SR, Boyal A, Edwards VR (2011) Theory of mind deficits following acute alcohol intoxication. Eur Addict Res 17:164–168
Monahan JL, Lannutti PJ (2000) Alcohol as social lubricant. Hum Commun Res 26:175–202
Niesink RJ, Van Ree JM (1982) Short-term isolation increases social interactions of male rats: a parametric analysis. Physiol Behav 29:819–825
Olsen RW, Hanchar HJ, Meera P, Wallner M (2007) GABA(A) receptor subtypes: the “one glass of wine” receptors. Alcohol 41:201–209
Poulos CX, Parker JL, Lê DA (1998) Increased impulsivity after injected alcohol predicts later alcohol consumption in rats: evidence for “loss-of-control drinking” and marked individual differences. Behav Neurosci 112:1247–1257
Rapee RM, Spence SH (2004) The etiology of social phobia: empirical evidence and an initial model. Clin Psychol Rev 24:737–767
Rehm J, Room R, Graham K, Monteiro M, Gmel G, Sempos CT (2003) The relationship of average volume of alcohol consumption and patterns of drinking to burden of disease: an overview. Addiction 98:1209–1228
Rose AK, Duka T (2007) The influence of alcohol on basic motoric and cognitive disinhibition. Alcohol Alcohol 42:544–551
Sayette MA (1993) An appraisal-disruption model of alcohol's effects on stress responses in social drinkers. Psychol Bull 114:459–476
Sayette MA, Creswell KG, Dimoff JD, Fairbairn CE, Cohn JF, Heckman BW, Kirchner TR, Levine JM, Moreland RL (2012) Alcohol and group formation: a multimodal investigation of the effects of alcohol on emotion and social bonding. Psychol Sci 23:869–878
Sklar AL, Boissoneault J, Fillmore MT, Nixon SJ (2014) Interactions between age and moderate alcohol effects on simulated driving performance. Psychopharmacology 231:557–566
Spear LP (2014) Adolescents and alcohol: acute sensitivities, enhanced intake, and later consequences(). Neurotoxicol Teratol 41:51–59
Squeglia LM, Boissoneault J, Van Skike CE, Nixon SJ, Matthews DB (2014) Age-related effects of alcohol from adolescent, adult, and aged populations using human and animal models. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 38:2509–2516
Steele CM, Josephs RA (1990) Alcohol myopia: its prized and dangerous effects. Am Psychol 45:921–933
Steele CM, Southwick L (1985) Alcohol and social behavior: I. The psychology of drunken excess. J Pers Soc Psychol 48:18–34
Steele CM, Critchlow B, Liu TJ (1985) Alcohol and social behavior II: the helpful drunkard. J Pers Soc Psychol 48:35–46
Sundstrom-Poromaa I, Smith DH, Gong QH, Sabado TN, Li X, Light A, Wiedmann M, Williams K, Smith SS (2002) Hormonally regulated α4β2δ GABA(A) receptors are a target for alcohol. Nat Neurosci 5:721–722
Taylor SP, Gammon CB (1975) Effects of type and dose of alcohol on human physical aggression. J Pers Soc Psychol 32:169–175
Testa M, Fillmore MT, Norris J, Abbey A, Curtin JJ, Leonard KE, Mariano KA, Thomas MC, Nomensen KJ, George WH, VanZile-Tamsen C, Livingston JA, Saenz C, Buck PO, Zawacki T, Parkhill MR, Jacques AJ, Hayman LW (2006) Understanding alcohol expectancy effects: revisiting the placebo condition. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 30:339–348
Toth I, Neumann ID (2013) Animal models of social avoidance and social fear. Cell Tissue Res 354:107–118
Toth I, Neumann ID, Slattery DA (2012) Social fear conditioning: a novel and specific animal model to study social anxiety disorder. Neuropsychopharmacology 37:1433–1443
Toth I, Neumann ID, Slattery DA (2013) Social fear conditioning as an animal model of social anxiety disorder. Curr Protoc Neurosci 9.42. 1-9.42. 13
Varlinskaya EI, Spear LP (2002) Acute effects of ethanol on social behavior of adolescent and adult rats: role of familiarity of the test situation. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 26:1502–1511
Varlinskaya EI, Spear LP (2006) Differences in the social consequences of ethanol emerge during the course of adolescence in rats: social facilitation, social inhibition, and anxiolysis. Dev Psychobiol 48:146–161
Varlinskaya EI, Spear LP (2009) Ethanol-induced social facilitation in adolescent rats: role of endogenous activity at mu opioid receptors. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 33:991–1000
Varlinskaya EI, Spear LP (2010) Sensitization to social anxiolytic effects of ethanol in adolescent and adult Sprague-dawley rats following repeated ethanol exposure. Alcohol 44:99–110
Varlinskaya EI, Spear LP (2012) Increases in anxiety-like behavior induced by acute stress are reversed by ethanol in adolescent but not adult rats. Pharmacol Biochem Behav 100:440–450
Varlinskaya EI, Spear LP (2015) Social consequences of ethanol: impact of age, stress, and prior history of ethanol exposure. Physiol Behav 148:145–150
Varlinskaya EI, Spear LP, Spear NE (2001) Acute effects of ethanol on behavior of adolescent rats: role of social context. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 25:377–385
Wallner M, Hanchar HJ, Olsen RW (2003) Ethanol enhances α4β3δ and α6β3δ γ-aminobutyric acid type A receptors at low concentrations known to affect humans. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 100:15218–15223
Williams LJ, Abdi H (2010) Fisher’s Least Significant Difference (LSD) Test. In: Salkind N, (ed) Encyclopedia of Research Design, Sage, Thousand Oaks
Wiltgen BJ (2005) Trace fear conditioning is enhanced in mice lacking the subunit of the GABAA receptor. Learn Mem 12:327–333
Zhang W-H, Zhou J, Pan H-Q, Wang X-Y, Liu W-Z, Zhang J-Y, Yin X-P, Pan B-X (2017) δ Subunit-containing GABAA receptor prevents overgeneralization of fear in adult mice. Learn Mem 24:381–384
Funding
The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This study was supported by Australian National Health and Medical Research Council funding to MTB (1092046).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Additional information
Publisher’s note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Electronic supplementary material
ESM 1
(DOCX 705 kb).
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Raymond, J.S., Wilson, B.B., Tan, O. et al. Acute alcohol exposure dose-dependently alleviates social avoidance in adolescent mice and inhibits social investigation in adult mice. Psychopharmacology 236, 3625–3639 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-019-05335-8
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-019-05335-8