Acoustic Startle Reactivity During Acute Alcohol Withdrawal in Rats That Differ in Genetic Predisposition Toward Alcohol Drinking: Effect of Stimulus Characteristics

Abstract

In contrast to our prior findings, these results showed a genetic association between high alcohol drinking and a greater startle response magnitude to a noise stimulus during alcohol withdrawal. It seems that the genetic association between alcohol drinking and alcohol withdrawal, as assessed by the acoustic startle response, depends on the quality of the acoustic startle stimulus.

Analysis of the chronic intake of and withdrawal from diazepam on emotional reactivity and sensory information processing in rats

“…In our study rats withdrawn from oral diazepam intake increased their magnitude of startle response, in a similar manner to that verified during withdrawal from other drugs of abuse, such as alcohol (Chester et al, 2004;Pohorecky et al, 1976), morphine (Harris and Gewirtz, 2004;Kalinichev and Holtzman, 2003) and nicotine (Acri, 1994;Helton et al, 1993).…”

A Genetic Animal Model of Alcoholism for Screening Medications to Treat Addiction

“…Regarding initial sensitivity, compared with NP rats, P rats are less sensitive to the ataxic (Bell et al, 2001) and hypothermic (Stewart, Kurtz, Zweifel, Li, & Froehlich, 1992) effects of ethanol; and P rats develop tolerance quicker to the ataxic (Bell et al, 2001) and hypnotic (Kurtz, Stewart, Zweifel, Li, & Froehlich, 1996) effects of ethanol as well. During ethanol withdrawal, P, but not NP, rats display greater acoustic startle reactivity compared with basal conditions (Chester, Blose, & Froehlich, 2004). P rats display greater low dose ethanol-induced locomotor activity, compared with NP rats (Rodd, Bell, McKinzie, et al, 2004; Waller, Murphy, McBride, Lumeng, & Li, 1986), and display locomotor activation during ethanol drinking or self-administration (Bell, Rodd, Toalston, et al, 2008; Bell et al, 2002; Melendez et al, 2002).…”

A Pilot Trial of the Alpha‐1 Adrenergic Antagonist, Prazosin, for Alcohol Dependence

“…Brain a 1 adrenergic mechanisms mediate enhanced acoustic startle response (Stevens et al, 1994), which is characteristic of abstinent alcoholics (Krystal et al, 1997), persons with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (Orr et al, 1995), selectively-bred alcohol preferring P rats (Chester et al, 2004), and outbred rats experiencing prolonged abstinence following long-term chronic daily ethanol consumption and withdrawal (Rasmussen et al, 2005). Emerging evidence also shows that noradrenergic systems modulate midbrain dopaminergic neurons which in turn have key roles in the reinforcing and locomotor activating responses to drugs of abuse, including ethanol.…”