Alcohol self‐administration paradigms are increasingly common in human studies and suggest the importance of examining how quickly people consume alcohol, the relationship between how quickly BrAC changes and subjective response or other risk factors. Using oral alcohol self‐administration techniques, investigators have primarily investigated the temporal dynamics of a drinking episode. Outcomes of interest have largely been limited to total volume of alcohol consumed, frequency or speed of consumption, and latency to start or finish a drink. 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 These studies provided minimal examination of alcohol concentration temporal dynamics beyond peak, ascending versus descending limb, or overall differences (for example, previous studies 30 , 34 ), likely secondary to the aforementioned variability in alcohol exposure even after a standard “drink” and challenges collecting frequent alcohol concentration measures after oral consumption. Using an IV alcohol paradigm, Stangl et al. reported that those who self‐infused more rewards in the first 30 min of the lab study reported drinking more heavily in the past month and reported a greater rewarding subjective response compared with participants
