To test for regional specificity, we assessed the effect of Ad-shα4 microinfusion within the NAc core. We found no effect of knocking down the GABAAR α4 subunit in the NAc core on active lever responding for ethanol (Fig. 4a; F(3,44) = 0.2199, P = 0.88), inactive lever responding (Fig. 4b; F(3,44) = 1.023, P = 0.39) or total ethanol intake (Fig. 4c, F(3,44) = 6.08, P = 0.17) at any timepoint tested, suggesting our observed effects are specific to the NAc shell. Baseline ethanol consumed by Ad-NSS group was 0.57 ± 0.052 g/kg and by the Ad-shα4-1 group was 0.57 + 0.037 g/kg, whereas ethanol consumed on day 18 after viral infusion was 0.52 ± 0.039 g/kg by Ad-NSS group and 0.43 ± 0.048 g/kg by the Ad-shα4-1 group.
