CUMULATIVE VS ACUTE DOSE-RESPONSE PROCEDURES PRODUCE DIFFERENTIAL BACAND BEHAVIORAL FUNCTIONS FOR ETHANOL

The discriminative stimulus attributes of ethanol (ETOH) were characte rized in rats trained to discriminate between 1.25 g/kg ETOH and salin e. The ETOH generalization functions were assessed using both acute an d cumulative dosing procedures. The cumulative procedures differed in the individual incremented doses used to generate the functions. Acute dosing procedures produced discriminative functions that were signifi cantly different from cumulative dose-response curves (DRCs). Similar cumulative DRC's were generated within each cumulative dosing procedur e, whereas significant differences were produced between the two dosin g incremented procedures. When blood alcohol concentrations (BACs) wer e quantified, a cumulative testing procedure produced significantly lo wer BACs than acute testing procedures at every dose above the initial or starting dose. Interestingly, response rate functions did not diff er within or between cumulative and acute procedures. These data may s uggest that differential ETOH dosing procedures may differentially inf luence the behavioral choice and BAC functions in rats, and cautions a gainst the use of cumulative procedures to assess shifts in DRCs durin g chronic treatments without a concomitant assessment of BACs. (C) 199 7 Elsevier Science Inc.