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Science 28 June 1968:
Vol. 160. no. 3835, pp. 1469 - 1471
DOI: 10.1126/science.160.3835.1469
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Articles

Alcohol Preference in the Rat: Reduction Following Depletion of Brain Serotonin

Robert D. Myers 1 and Warren L. Veale 1

1 Laboratory of Neuropsychology, Purdue University, Lafayette, Indiana

Preference for ethyl alcohol was significantly reduced or totally abolished in rats given orally p-chlorophenylalanine, a tryptophan hydroxylase inhibitor that selectively depletes brain serotonin. Some aversion to alcohol was observed while p-chlorophenylalanine was administered, but the rats' rejection of alcohol was even more marked after the drug was discontinued. Oral administration of agr-methyl-p-tyrosine, a tyrosine hydroxylase inhibitor that depletes brain catecholamines, slightly reduced selection of alcohol, but preference returned to normal as soon as agr-methyl-p-tyrosine was terminated.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
CONTINUOUS ETHANOL ADMINISTRATION INFLUENCES RAT BRAIN 5-HYDROXYTRYPTAMINE SYNTHESIS NON-UNIFORMLY: {alpha}-[14C]METHYL-L-TRYPTOPHAN AUTORADIOGRAPHIC MEASUREMENTS.
F. Yamane, Y. Tohyama, and M. Diksic (2003)
Alcohol Alcohol. 38, 115-120
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Cellular and molecular mechanisms of drug dependence.
G. Koob and F. Bloom (1988)
Science 242, 715-723
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Alcohol and Central Serotonin Metabolism in Man.
J. C. Ballenger, F. K. Goodwin, L. F. Major, and G. L. Brown (1979)
Arch Gen Psychiatry 36, 224-227
   Abstract »    PDF »
Alcohol Aversion in the Rat: Behavioral Assessment of Noxious Drug Effects.
M. Nachman, D. Lester, and J. L. Magnen (1970)
Science 168, 1244-1246
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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)