Enhanced intake of ethanol in preweanling rats following interactions withintoxicated siblings

Recently Hunt, Holloway, & Scordalakes (1999) described a novel procedure f or examining how social interactions with an intoxicated sibling can enhanc e periadolescent mts' voluntary intake of ethanol. In the present series of experiments we extend these findings to preweanlings. In Experiment I, sam e-sex sibling 16-day-olds were assigned to be either (a) a demonstrator tha t was administered 1.5 g/kg ethanol or water control or (b) an observer tha t was rested for ethanol in the following a brief interaction with the demo nstrator Observers interacting with EtOH demonstrators exhibited increased intake of ethanol relative to observers interacting with water demonstrator s. In Experiment 2, subjects were 8, 12, or 16 days of age and at all ages, ethanol intakes increased following exposure to an intoxicated sibling. In Experiment 3, repeated exposures to ethanol demonstrators on days 12, 14, and 16 was found to promote ethanol intake after weaning (on postnatal day 22). Collectively these data indicate that exposure to ethanol cues in the context of home/social cues can lend to modifications in ethanol acceptance , and that repeated exposures to such cues during infancy can impact ethano l ingestion after weaning. (C) 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.