One barrier for oral alcohol administration paradigms is large variability in blood alcohol concentration profiles, reflecting high inter-individual variability in alcohol absorption and first-pass metabolism (Ramchandani and O'Connor, 2006; Ramchandani et al., 2009). This variability restricts experimental precision and may complicate pharmacodynamic interpretations for individual differences in behavioral or neurobiological outcomes. A specific implication for self-administration paradigms is unwanted variability in speed and extent of incremental increases in arterial blood alcohol concentration (aBAC, reflecting brain alcohol exposure) following standardized doses (Zimmermann et al., 2008). Computer-assisted self-infusion of ethanol (CASE), a novel self-administration paradigm (Zimmermann et al., 2008, 2009, 2013), can obviate many of these concerns. CASE combines intravenous alcohol administration with physiologically-based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) modeling (Plawecki et al., 2008; Ramchandani et al., 1999), allowing uniform increments in aBAC across participants. The intravenous route of administration also enables close temporal contingencies between operant responses and aBAC increases. Coupled with a relatively rapid decline in aBAC (due to immediate blood-to-tissue distribution), this feature allows relatively better control over self-imposed aBAC compared to oral methods (Zimmermann et al., 2008). Additionally, the absence of
