Electric Barrier-Induced Voluntary Abstinence Reduces Alcohol Seeking in Male, but Not Female, iP Rats

Maintaining abstinence and preventing relapse are key to the successful recovery from alcohol use disorder. There are two main ways individuals with alcohol use disorder abstain from alcohol use: forced (e.g., incarceration) and voluntary. Voluntary abstinence is often evoked due to the negative consequences associated with excessive alcohol consumption. This study investigated relapse-like behavior to alcohol seeking following acute, forced, and voluntary abstinence. Male rats had increased operant self-administration responding throughout training compared to females; however, females consumed greater amounts of alcohol in g/kg. Both male and female rats achieved voluntary abstinence, which was induced using an electric barrier on the operant chamber floor with alcohol readily available during this period. Interestingly, male rats that underwent voluntary abstinence displayed reduced alcohol seeking compared to males in the acute and forced abstinence groups. This difference in alcohol seeking behavior across abstinence groups was not observed in female rats. Quantification of neuronal activation (Fos protein) revealed numerous brain regions (e.g., ventral subiculum and lateral habenula) to be associated with the reduced reinstatement propensity seen in male rats that underwent voluntary abstinence. Additionally, hierarchical clustering found enhanced functional connectivity and coordination in the male voluntary abstinence group compared to the male forced abstinence group. Collectively, these data implicate a sexual dimorphism in the effect that voluntary abstinence, at least in the model employed here, has on relapse-like behavior. This maybe driven by reduced neuronal activation at a network level and enhanced functional connectivity and integration.