IMPULSIVITY PREDICTS INDIVIDUAL SUSCEPTIBILITY TO HIGH-LEVELS OF ALCOHOL SELF-ADMINISTRATION

Clinical studies indicate large individual differences in susceptibili ty to alcohol abuse. Poor behavioral self-regulation has been proposed to reflect a predisposing factor. Like humans, only some rats regular ly consume large and intoxicating amounts of alcohol. We hypothesized that clinical indications of impaired behavioral self-regulation shoul d be reflected in an animal model of impulse control, and in this stud y we assessed impulsivity with a delay-of-reward paradigm. We found th at three groups representing three levels of impulsivity predicted aug menting levels of alcohol self-administration. Also, overall impulsivi ty scores were found to be significantly correlated with magnitude of alcohol self-administration. The finding that high impulsivity is link ed to elevated consumption represents an animal model that may mirror clinical depictions of an alcohol abuse syndrome. This animal model ma y help elucidate the neurobiological basis of individual susceptibilit y to alcohol addiction.