Figure 3. Aggressive motivation escalates with repeated administrations of alcohol and remains persistently sensitized to lower concentrations of alcohol.

Fixed interval (FI) response rates (upper middle) are depicted over repeated oral administrations (via gavage) of water or alcohol (2.2 g/kg; top) and 10 days later in response to a dose of water or a low challenge dose of alcohol (1.0 g/kg; bottom middle). Here, the motivation to fight is initially disrupted by alcohol before levels of FI responding recover to baseline. After just seven daily alcohol administrations, the motivation to fight in response to a low dose of alcohol becomes sensitized (bottom middle). Fighting behavior is persistently disrupted over the course of seven consecutive daily administrations of alcohol (2.2 g/kg; upper right) but not significantly affected 10 days later by a challenge dose of alcohol (1.0 g/kg; bottom right). Adapted from Covington et al. ⁸³ with permission from Frontiers Media SA.