Nicotine accelerates the escalation of alcohol self-administration, associated with Fos induction in the dmPFC. Top, Number of Fos-immunoreactive nuclei per millimeter squared in the dmPFC. Middle, Number of Fos-immunoreactive nuclei per millimeter squared in the vmPFC. Bottom, Number of Fos-immunoreactive nuclei per millimeter squared in the OFC. The data are represented as mean ± SEM; *p < 0.05, different from the other groups; n = 6–8 per group.