Palatability attributed to alcohol and alcohol-paired flavors.

• The taste of alcoholic beverages induce craving and are prominent relapse triggers. • Mice increase the duration of bouts of alcohol consumption over time. • Long duration bouts are transiently supported by an alcohol-paired flavor. • Increases in bout duration are consistent with increases in palatability. • Conditioned palatability likely contributes to binge alcohol consumption. The orosensory features of alcoholic drinks are potent relapse triggers because they acquire incentive properties during consumption, including enhanced palatability. Whether mice similarly perceive alcoholic drinks to be more palatable after repeated consumption is complicated by reports showing that alcohol elicits aversive taste reactivity responses and conditions flavor avoidance. Here, by analyzing the microstructure of alcohol consumption, we report a gradual increase in lick bout duration relative to water that is partially maintained by an alcohol-paired flavor in extinction. We interpret lick bout duration to reflect an increase in the palatability alcohol and an alcohol-paired flavor. This finding demonstrates that bout duration is amenable to Pavlovian conditioning and highlights the importance of considering the microstructure of alcohol consumption in preclinical models of alcohol misuse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]