Anxiety and fear are common symptoms of neurodegenerative disorders including Alzheimer’s disease (Chung & Cummings, 2000; Ferretti et al., 2001). Despite the well-known impact of alcohol on anxiety and emotional processing (Koob & Volkow, 2010), the influence of alcohol use on anxiety and fear associated with AD remains to be fully understood. The results of the present study show heightened cued fear response by 3xTg-AD mice with a history of alcohol intake. This suggests that nondependent alcohol use may dysregulate emotional responding in individuals vulnerable to, or in the early stages of, AD.
