Olfaction is a potent source of information about the reward and valuational properties of a variety of environmental stimuli, and there is increasing evidence that olfaction may play a direct role in the effects of ethanol on brain functions that are relevant to addiction. Ethanol vapor evokes a strong olfactory response in many species, and in humans it elicits activity in specific areas of the brain, including the nucleus accumbens and ventral tegmental area, that are critical for the rewarding properties of alcohol (Kareken et al., 2004). Moreover, the magnitude of activity observed in the nucleus accumbens positively correlates with high alcohol use. Studies in rodents have shown that prenatal exposure to ethanol can increase the behavioral response to ethanol odors and increased ethanol intake (Youngentob and Glendinning, 2009). Acute ethanol ingestion can also interfere with olfactory discrimination, suggesting that there exists a complex interplay between the sensory and central effects of ethanol (Patel et al., 2004). A relationship between the smell of ethanol and its behavioral effects may also exist in insects. In the honeybee, ingestion of ethanol can
