facilitation of NMDAR-mediated transmission upon cessation of a single exposure to acute ethanol (Wang, Carnicella et al. 2007). This rebound long-term facilitation (LTF) seems to set the stage for gradual induction of LTP at glutamatergic striatal synapses (Wang, Ben Hamida et al. 2012). Acute ethanol has opposite effects on GABAergic transmission in the DLS and DMS, where ethanol decreases and increases the frequency of unitary GABA synaptic responses, respectively. Repeated cycles of ethanol drinking diminished the acute effects of ethanol on GABA and decrease transmission in the CLS compared to naïve mice, suggesting occlusion of the acute ethanol effects (Wilcox, Cuzon Carlson et al. 2014). The net result of all these processes after multiple periods of ethanol exposure and withdrawal will be enhanced glutamatergic synaptic drive and decreased inhibition onto MSNs in the dorsomedial striatum that appears to contribute to the learning of goal-directed ethanol self-administration and escalated drinking (Wang, Cheng et al. 2015).
