AWARD NUMBER: W81XWH-13-1-0126 TITLE: Stress and PTSD Mechanisms as Targets for Pharmacotherapy of Alcohol Abuse, Addiction, and Relapse PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR:

Aims: Acoustic startle response in rats is used to model sensorimotor reactivity. The aim of the study was to determine whether acoustic startle response in alcohol-na"ive rats predicts subsequent increased voluntary alcohol drinking or alcohol preference. Methods: Startle responses to 90, 95 and 100 decibel (dB) white noise stimuli presented in counterbalanced semi-randomized order were tested in alcohol-na"ive young adult male Wistar rats before voluntary alcohol intake was established with an intermittent alcohol access (IAA) model. Results: Startle amplitude in response to 95 or 100 dB stimuli was positively correlated with subsequent alcohol intake and alcohol preference following 3 months of IAA. Rats with high (median split) pre-IAA startle amplitude in response to 95 or 100 dB stimuli developed increased alcohol intake as well as increased alcohol preference following 3 months of IAA, relative to rats with low pre-IAA startle amplitude. Conclusion: Startle response to moderate acoustic stimuli can be a predictive index of vulnerability to developing increased alcohol drinking.