NP rats have similar initial orofacial and behavioral responses to the taste and smell of alcohol. However P, but not NP, rats significantly increase their appetitive/ingestive as well as significantly decrease their aversive responses after chronic access to alcohol and 4 weeks of abstinence (Bice, Kiefer 1990). Similar findings have been reported for the HAD-1 and LAD-1 lines of rats (Kiefer et al. 1995). It is noteworthy that chronic alcohol access increased appetitive/ingestive responses and decreased aversive responses to oral alcohol infusion in nonselected Holtzman-derived rats, but 4 weeks of abstinence abolished the changes in appetitive/ingestive responding and nearly abolished the changes in aversive responding to alcohol (Kiefer et al. 1994). Therefore, the findings in the P and HAD-1 rat lines suggest selective breeding for alcohol preference predisposes an animal to maintain behaviors associated with increased rewarding/reinforcing effects of alcohol or, conversely, maintain behaviors associated with reduced aversive effects of alcohol after chronic alcohol consumption.
