Alcohol dependence is a relapsing disorder that has been conceptualized as three stages, binge/intoxication, withdrawal/negative affect and preoccupation/anticipation (Koob, 2013). Increasingly, the negative consequences of not drinking rather than the rewarding or positive aspects of drinking are responsible for relapses. The PAG is associated with anxiety, fear and pain (Bebehani, 1995). Therefore, we examined the PAG gene expression profile in binge-drinking male adolescent P rats to identify developmental changes in the PAG that could play a role in the transition from positive to negative reinforcement as the motivator for drinking.
