session (Bell et al., 2006b), mimicking binge-like drinking, with BACs approximating 80 mg% or greater (Bell et al., 2006b, 2008). The relative lack of effect of ethanol in the MSA group versus the W group suggests that gene expression in the ACB may be tightly regulated, such that, with intermittent ethanol exposure under a regimented protocol (i.e., with an inherently strong time-of-day conditioning component), the genetic machinery may adjust to ethanol-induced alterations (e.g., neuroadaptations) and be able to maintain new steady-state protein levels with basal levels of gene expression. This conclusion is supported by the finding that there were very few differences (approximately 50) between the 2 alcohol drinking groups. This suggests that the MSA procedure may be producing similar changes as the CA procedure but the effects of binge drinking may be much smaller compared with the effects of 24-hr continuous access drinking. It is noteworthy that ∼ 40% of the genes with significant differences in expression between the MSA and W groups were also similarly different between the CA and W groups. Therefore, increasing power, by increasing the number of animals in the MSA and W groups, in future studies may result in detecting a significant number of
