Search

The effects of social stimulation on ethanol drinking in humans may depend on the gender of the drinker, the gender of the social stimulus, and the availability of ethanol provided to the social stimulus. The present study employed the Proximal Cagemate Drinking (PCD) Procedures to evaluate the effects of the gender of the social stimulus Cagemate mouse and the effects of providing ethanol to the Cagemate mouse on the drinking of ethanol and water by the male or female CD-1 Drinker mouse. Twelve groups of subjects were arranged in a 3 × 2 × 2 factorial design with 3 levels of Cagemate Gender (Male vs. Female vs. None), 2 levels of Drinker Gender (Male vs. Female), and 2 levels of Cagemate Ethanol (Ethanol vs. No Ethanol). In the 8 groups assigned to social housing conditions, each Drinker mouse was housed with a Cagemate mouse on opposite sides of a clear plastic shoebox cage equipped with a clear plastic barrier that divided the cage lengthwise into 2 equal compartments. Six groups of Drinkers and 4 groups of Cagemates were provided with continuous access to 2 bottles (ethanol vs. water), while the 4 groups of Cagemates in the No Ethanol condition were provided with 2 bottles containing water. Results revealed that providing the Cagemate with ethanol elevated ethanol intake and ethanol preference but reduced water intake in Drinkers in Other-Gender Pairings (Male Drinker-Female Cagemate or Female Drinker-Male Cagemate) relative to Drinkers in Same-Gender Pairings (Male Drinker-Male Cagemate or Female Drinker-Female Cagemate). In contrast, when the Cagemate was not provided with access to ethanol, the opposite effects were observed. These novel PCD procedures reveal that the gender of the Cagemate and the Cagemate's access to ethanol influenced ethanol drinking in proximal-housed CD-1 Drinker mice.

We evaluated the effects of social interaction opportunity (SIO) and intermittent presentations of the ethanol sipper tube (IS) on autoshaping of ethanol drinking in nondeprived rats. Rats were assigned to one of seven groups. Two groups experienced brief IS, either paired with or randomly related to the response-independent raising of a guillotine door (D) revealing the presence of a conspecific male rat in a holding cage (SIO). Two control groups received similar training, respectively, except that the D revealed an empty cage, whereas a third control group received IS but neither D nor SIO. For two additional control groups, the ethanol sipper tube was continuously available during the session, with and without SIO, with both groups receiving intermittent D. In IS conditions, procedures with SIO induced more ethanol intake than did non-SIO procedures, indicating that SIO contributed to ethanol intake, but D procedures did not differ from non-D procedures, indicating that ethanol drinking was not related to the operation of the door. Groups that received training procedures providing for both SIO and IS showed more rapid initiation of ethanol intake and more rapid escalation of ethanol intake as the concentration of ethanol in the sipper tube conditioned stimulus was increased across sessions. Theoretical accounts, which are based on cue at response manipulandum/autoshaping, schedule-induced polydipsia, incentive sensitization, and intermittency-induced arousal, are considered.