Fig. 2

Traumatic stress response in alcohol-drinking male and female rats. a Experimental design. Rats were given intermittent access to 20% ethanol in a 2-bottle choice paradigm for 5 weeks followed by conditioned place aversion using bobcat urine. Controls were never exposed to predator odor (PO) stress. Avoidance behavior was measured 24 h post-stress (day 1). Acoustic startle reactivity was evaluated at day 2 post-stress and is expressed as Vmax normalized by body weight in kilograms (Vmax/kg b.w.). Anxiety-like behavior was tested at day 17 after PO exposure. b Change in time spent in PO-paired chamber in rats indexed as avoiders or non-avoiders. c Avoidance distribution of stressed rats (avoiders × non-avoiders). d Alcohol consumption presented as grams of ethanol per body weight in kilograms per rat (estimated from the pair of rats) in 24 h. Insert: blood alcohol concentrations at 2 h after the start of alcohol access during the last drinking session. e Acoustic startle response at 95 dB. f Acoustic startle response at 105 dB. g Acoustic startle response at 115 dB. Data presented as mean ± SEM. Asterisk denotes P < .05