The lack of conditioned place preference, but unaltered stimulatory and ataxic effects of alcohol in mGluR3-KO mice

Background:Alcohol use associates with environmental cues that can later reinstate drinking patterns without any alcohol exposure. Alcohol-induced reward, when combined with contextual signals of various sensory modalities in the central synapses of mesolimbic reward circuitries, can lead to the formation of conditioned responses.Aims:As the activation of glutamatergic synapses is pivotal in such processes, we aimed to investigate whether the metabotropic glutamate receptor subtype 3 plays a role in alcohol-induced behaviours including place preference.Methods:The metabotropic glutamate receptor subtype 3 knockout (mGluR3-KO) mouse line was used to study alcohol-induced place preference, locomotor activating and ataxic effects, limited access alcohol drinking, and preference for sucrose and saccharin.Results:Alcohol-induced horizontal locomotor stimulation and reduced rearing behaviour remained unchanged in the mGluR3-KO mice. However, alcohol-induced place conditioning in an unbiased paradigm setup was l...