Heavy episodic drinking within the past 2 weeks is reported by 12% of 8th graders, 22% of 10th graders, 28% of 12th grade seniors and 44% of college students (Johnston et al., 2004; Masten et al., 2008; Wechsler et al., 1995; Windle et al., 2008). In our model of adolescent binge drinking in C57BL/6 mice the 5 gm/kg/day dose is less than mice from this strain drink by choice (>15 gm/kg/day) (Crews et al., 2004). The high peak blood ethanol levels (288 mg/dL) in this model are appropriate since alcohol dependent human adolescents report approximately 13 drinks per drinking episode (Deas et al., 2000), consistent with blood ethanol levels of 250-299 mg/dL, 50-65 mM (Jones and Holmgren, 2009). C57BL/6 mice metabolize ethanol approximately 3.5 times faster than humans (≈9.7mmole/kg/hr in mice vs ≈2.7mmole/kg/hr in humans), suggesting that elevated blood alcohol levels persist longer in humans than mice (Thurman et al., 1982; Bradford et al., 2007). Our adolescent binge ethanol treatment followed by assessments in young adults mimics the “young adult alcohol dependent subtype,” the most common alcohol dependence subtype characterized
