A summary of statistics for each figure is provided in table format (Table 1). To assess the neural dynamics of alcohol-associated cues within mPFC, extracellular electrophysiological activity was obtained from ensembles of neurons during performance of an alcohol-drinking task in Wistar and P rats matched for alcohol history (McCane et al., 2014; Linsenbardt and Lapish, 2015). Neural recordings were performed in well-trained animals that had more than seven weeks of prior alcohol experience. Subsequent recordings were made using identical procedures, except the alcohol solution was replaced with water. The layout of the conditioning apparatus (Fig. 1A), as well as representative video tracking data on drinking (Fig. 1B) and non-drinking (Fig. 1C) trials are presented in Figure 1. Head movement speed differentiated drinking from non-drinking trials in both rat populations on both alcohol and water sessions, primarily (or exclusively) during the fluid access epoch (FDR-corrected rank-sum tests; p < 0.05; Fig. 1D). Differences during fluid access were expected, as drinking required that animals remain in close proximity to the sipper on drinking trials. No differences in movement speed were observed during
