Social rank and social separation as determinants of alcohol drinking in squirrel monkeys Psychopharmacology Online First 19 July 2008
Alcohol may be self-administered for its anxiolytic effects to alleviate symptoms of stress, but different types of stressors have varying effects on alcohol intake. Social stress is particularly relevant to alcohol drinking, and a primate model of stress-induced alcohol self-administration would be useful.
The objective of the study is to determine if social stresses of different lengths and intensities affect voluntary alcohol intake in monkeys.
Dominance rank was inversely correlated with alcohol intake during social housing but was not correlated with control fluid intake. Acute social separation abolished drinking of both fluids, accompanied by increased anxiety-like behavior. Extended social separation increased salivary cortisol and alcohol drinking but not control fluid intake in males. In females, drinking was unchanged by extended separation.
The chronic stress of social subordination is correlated with increased alcohol drinking. Acute social separation stress suppresses drinking behavior, while extended separation preferentially increases alcohol intake in a subset of individuals. These findings suggest that social stressors of different time-courses and intensities have opposing effects on alcohol self-administration.
Read Full Abstract
Request Reprint E-Mail: klaus.miczek@tufts.edu
______________________________________________________________
