In the current study, the encoding of drinking intent (e.g., drink outcome specific changes in neural activity before drinking) was diminished in mPFC of P rats compared to Wistar rats. While, these data are the first to provide evidence that mPFC neurons directly encode the intent to consume alcohol, they also indicate this signal is diminished in animals with increased risk of excessive drinking. These data suggest that increased familial risk diminishes the contribution of the mPFC in the decision to seek and drink alcohol. However, there is also substantial evidence for transitions in encoding in subcortical brain regions, such as the striatum. The dorsomedial striatum directly influences alcohol consumption that is still sensitive to devaluation (i.e., not “habitual”), whereas the dorsolateral striatum modulates alcohol consumption only after prolonged training in which animals have become insensitive to devaluation and display habitual behavioral responding (Corbit et al., 2012). Thus, over the course of repeated alcohol drinking experiences, there is a reorganization of the neural circuits that regulate alcohol drinking behavior. Taken together, these studies underscore the need to disambiguate the distinct
