Brain stimulation reward performance and sucrose maintained behaviors in alcohol-preferring and -nonpreferring rats.

Background: The relation between ethanol (EtOH) preference and sensitivity to brain stimulation reward (BSR) was examined under multiples schedules of reinforcement in the current study. For comparison, the study also examined the relation between EtOH preference and motivation for a sweet, palatable sucrose solution under similar schedules of reinforcement.

Methods: To investigate sensitivity to BSR performance, alcohol-preferring and -nonpreferring rats were tested using the curve-shift (rate-frequency) paradigm under several intensity levels during a 20-min session.