Alcohol‐induced place conditioning in moderate social drinkers
Year: 2016
Type: article
Study design: Clinical Trial
Abstract: AIMS: To test whether non-dependent drinkers show place preference for a location paired with alcohol, and to test if the amount of time spent in the alcohol-paired location is related to self-reported subjective alcohol effects experienced in that environment. DESIGN: Two groups of subjects completed six conditioning sessions: three with alcohol (0.8 g/kg) and three without alcohol. Individuals were assigned randomly to two groups, paired and unpaired, in a 2 : 1 ratio. The paired group (n = 78) received alcohol in one testing room and no-alcohol in another testing room (biased assignment). The unpaired group (n = 30) received alcohol and no-alcohol in each testing room. SETTING: Human Behavioral Pharmacology Laboratory, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA (single site). PARTICIPANTS: Healthy male and female social drinkers (n = 108) aged 21-40 years participated in the study (consisting of 10 separate laboratory visits) between March 2012 and August 2014 (an average of 36 separate subject visits per month). MEASUREMENTS: The primary outcome measure was the pre- to post-conditioning change in the percentage of time spent in the least preferred room (obtained during drug-free exploration tests conducted at separate visits before and after the six conditioning sessions were completed). Secondary measures included self-reported subjective mood and drug effects obtained during the conditioning sessions. FINDINGS: The groups differed in the change in the percentage of time spent in the initially least preferred room, from pre- to post-conditioning; paired group = 11.0%, unpaired group = -1.4%, mean difference = 12.4%, 95% confidence interval = 1.9-23.0, P = 0.02. The change in the percentage of time spent in the least-preferred room was related to the self-reported sedative effects of alcohol during conditioning sessions among paired group participants only. CONCLUSIONS: Non-dependent consumers of alcohol appear to develop a behavioral preference for locations paired with alcohol consumption, more so for those who experience sedative effects from alcohol in those locations.
Source: Addiction
DOI: 10.1111/add.13540
Authors: Emma Childs, Harriet de Wit
Institutions: University of Illinois Chicago, University of Chicago
Language: English
Subfield: Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience
Field: Neuroscience
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2506940441