Many studies have implicated hippocampal dysregulation in the pathophysiology of alcohol use disorder (AUD). However, over the past twenty years, a growing body of evidence has revealed distinct functional roles of the dorsal (dHC) and ventral (vHC) hippocampal subregions, with the dHC being primarily involved in spatial learning and memory and the vHC regulating anxietyand depressive-like behaviors. Notably, to our knowledge, no rodent studies have examined the effects of chronic ethanol exposure on synaptic transmission along the dorsal/ventral axis. To that end, we examined the effects of the chronic intermittent ethanol vapor exposure (CIE) model of AUD on dHC and vHC synaptic excitability. Adult male Long-Evans rats were exposed to CIE or air for 10 days (12 hrs/day; targeting blood ethanol levels of 175-225 mg%) and recordings were made 24 hours into withdrawal. As expected, this protocol increased anxietylike behaviors on the elevated plus-maze. Extracellular recordings revealed marked CIEassociated increases in synaptic excitation in the CA1 region that were exclusively restricted to the ventral domain of the hippocampus. Western blot analysis of synaptoneurosomal fractions revealed that the expression of two proteins that regulate synaptic strength, GluA2 and SK2, was dysregulated in the vHC, but not the dHC, following CIE. Together, these findings suggest that the ventral CA1 region may be particularly sensitive to the maladaptive effects of chronic ethanol exposure and provide new insight into some of the neural substrates that may contribute to the negative affective state that develops during withdrawal. Keywords: Chronic intermittent ethanol; ventral hippocampus; anxietyAll rights reserved. No reuse allowed without permission.was not peer-reviewed) is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity.Thecopyright holder for this preprint (which . http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/337097 doi: bioRxiv preprint first posted online Jun. 3, 2018; Highlights-Chronic intermittent ethanol exposure produces robust increases in anxiety-like behavior in male Long Evans rats.-Chronic intermittent ethanol exposure increases synaptic excitability in the ventral, but not the dorsal, domain of the hippocampus.-These changes in excitability are associated with alterations in synaptoneurosomal expression of small conductance calcium-activated potassium channels and the GluA2 AMPA receptor subunit that are also restricted to the ventral hippocampus.All rights reserved. No reuse allowed without permission.was not peer-reviewed) is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity.