EFFECTS OF ALCOHOL ON THE SEXUAL MOTIVATION OF THE MALE-RAT

Previous research measuring the effects of alcohol on sexual behavior has primarily focused on its effects on copulation. The present experi ment was designed to investigate the effects of alcohol on the sexual motivation of the male rat by requiring operant responding to gain acc ess to a sexually receptive female. A novel apparatus was used that al lowed both visual and olfactory cues from an estrous female to reach t he male. Lever presses resulted in the opening of a door that permitte d the male rat to enter an adjacent chamber where a receptive female w as located. Treatment with low to moderate doses of alcohol (0.5 g/kg and 1.0 g/kg) resulted in increased latencies to emit the first respon se of the males working for access to females, but did not affect resp onse rate dr subsequent mount or ejaculation latencies, when these mal es were allowed access to the receptive female. Furthermore, alcohol f ailed to show any response-reinstating or disinhibitory effects when t ested following a period of nonreinforced extinction trials. An additi onal experiment, in which rats received equivalent doses of alcohol, r evealed no decrease in spontaneous locomotion. Taken together, these d ata suggest that the response-reducing effects of alcohol are probably not a result of general drug-induced reductions in activity, but rath er an attenuating action of the drug on sexual motivation.