Is behavioral sensitization to ethanol associated with contextual conditioning in mice?

Behavioral sensitization to drugs of abuse seems to involve learning processes. In mice, ethanol-induced locomotor sensitization is potentiated by repeated pairing of ethanol (EtOH) injections and the testing chamber. The present study aimed to test: (1) the association between the performance in a contextual conditioning task and the development of behavioral sensitization to EtOH in mice; (2) whether EtOH sensitization would be expressed in a different testing environment. Male albino Swiss mice (n = 72) were initially submitted to a contextual fear conditioning task. After 2 weeks without manipulation, the animals received daily i.p. injections of 2.2 g/kg EtOH (n = 52) or saline (n = 20), for 21 days. They were tested weekly for locomotor activity in activity cages. After 1 week of withdrawal, all mice received 2.2 g/kg EtOH and had their locomotor activity recorded in an open-field. According to the locomotor behavior displayed along the 21-day treatment, EtOH-treated mice were classified as sensitized (n = 15) or non-sensitized (n = 15). When these subgroups and saline-treated mice were compared for the freezing response in the conditioning test, sensitized mice displayed a greater freezing time than non-sensitized mice. When challenged with EtOH in the open-field, none of the EtOH-treated subgroups expressed behavioral sensitization. These results suggest that the development of EtOH sensitization seems to be positively associated with contextual learning, and further confirms that the expression of sensitization is highly dependent on contextual cues.