Evidence for the rewarding effects of ethanol using the conditioned place preference method.

Rats were tested for the rewarding effects of ethanol using a place preference conditioning procedure. After receiving a total of 15 daily conditioning trials under 1.0 g/kg ethanol (IP), a significant place preference was produced. Subjects conditioned using saline or 0.5 g/kg ethanol showed no changes in place preference. This study suggests that failures to demonstrate rewarding effects from ethanol with the conditioned place preference method may be due to an insufficient number of conditioning trials or to an inadequate exposure to the drug. The fact that place preference conditioning was effective in demonstrating ethanol reward while other methods have been equivocal suggests that this method may be a valuable technique for studying the mechanisms of ethanol reward.