Different sensitivity to the motor-stimulating effect of amphetamine in Sardinian alcohol-preferring and non-preferring rats.

The selective breeding of rodents on the basis of ethanol intake and preference has led to the development of lines of alcohol-preferring and non-preferring animals. The divergent degree of alcohol preference and consumption displayed by these lines of animals appears to be related, among other factors, to the genetic differences in dopaminergic neurotransmission. Moreover, in genetically unselected rats, a positive correlation has been found between alcohol preference and several amphetamine effects, including the stimulation of motor hyperactivity, thus suggesting the hypothesis that a common neural pathway might underlie some aspects in both of the amphetamine-induced hypermotility and alcohol preference.