Procedural separation of appetitive and consummatory behaviors in operant ethanol self-administration: A review and open-source analytical framework.

ABSTRACT: Despite decades of research, no new FDA-approved medications for alcohol use disorder (AUD) have emerged in over 25 years. Enhancing the translational relevance of preclinical models by more precisely capturing the behavioral and neurobiological features of AUD offers a promising path toward identifying novel therapeutic targets. Operant self-administration paradigms are essential for modeling voluntary ethanol intake in rodents, yet traditional approaches often confound appetitive (seeking) and consummatory (intake) behaviors. A biphasic sipper model developed by Hank Samson's laboratory addressed this limitation by allowing extended, uninterrupted access to ethanol following operant responding, enabling a clearer dissociation between seeking and consumption. In this review, we synthesize

SUBMITTER: Colarusso OA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12865747 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature