The detection of subtle changes in behavior across a range of alcohol doses and rodent strains and lines is important for a deeper understanding of alcohol-induced effects. In the present experiment acute alcohol-induced effects were investigated in adult Wistar rats using the novel MCSF test, designed to model a more complex environment than conventional behavioral tests.
Contrasting many previous reports using outbred and/or unselected rats, the results show that an i.p. injection of alcohol at 1.0 g/kg and 1.5 g/kg suppressed locomotor activity in adult rats. Furthermore, acute alcohol administration at a dose of 0.5 g/kg resulted in an initial increase in general activity compared to alcohol at 0.0 g/kg.