Chronic EtOH treatment in animals provides critical information relevant to central changes that take place during long-term alcohol abuse in humans. Persistent EtOH exposure produces both tolerance and dependence. Tolerance is manifested as a decreased behavioral response to EtOH that implies a decrease in the intoxicating effects and other responses to the drug. Therefore, higher amounts of EtOH are required to achieve the same intoxicating effects seen with acute drug administration. EtOH dependence is generally described by symptomology elicited during and following withdrawal from EtOH (Heilig et al. 2010). These effects include anxiety, dysphoria and increased seizure susceptibility, hyperalgesia and disruption of sleep states (Enoch 2008; Grobin et al. 1998; Kumar et al. 2009). Chronic EtOH treatment is known to induce many neuroadaptative changes in the CNS involving both glutamatergic and GABAergic synaptic transmission.
