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Animal Models of Adolescent Binge Drinking

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Methods for Preclinical Research in Addiction

Part of the book series: Neuromethods ((NM,volume 174))

Abstract

The main alcohol consumption pattern in adolescence is binge drinking (BD), characterized by intermittent consumption of large quantities of alcohol in short periods of time. BD has serious biomedical consequences and it is a prominent risk factor for later development of alcohol use disorders. Animal models can be extremely valuable for studying the neurobehavioral mechanisms and consequences of BD. This chapter focuses on the three main animal models of adolescent BD: the voluntary consumption paradigms “drinking in the dark” and “two-bottle choice,” and the nonvoluntary BD method “chronic intermittent ethanol administration.” A battery of behavioral tests is also described, with especial interest in evaluating the effects of alcohol BD on different kinds of memory. The use of these animal models of BD in combination with behavioral tasks will contribute to progress our understanding of the neurobehavioral consequences of BD, as well as to the potential development of prevention and treatment programs.

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Acknowledgments

This work was partly supported by the PROMETEO-II/2015/020 from “Generalitat Valenciana.”

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Correspondence to Santiago Monleón .

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Monleón, S., Redolat, R., Duque, A., Mesa-Gresa, P., Vinader-Caerols, C. (2022). Animal Models of Adolescent Binge Drinking. In: Aguilar, M.A. (eds) Methods for Preclinical Research in Addiction. Neuromethods, vol 174. Humana, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-1748-9_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-1748-9_2

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