Individual differences in ethanol drinking meal structure are shaped by social environments
4 affiliations
- 1Department of Neurobiology, UMass Chan Medical School, USA; Brudnick Neuropsychiatric Research Institute, UMass Chan Medical School, USA; Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, Vanderbilt University, USA; Vanderbilt Center for Addiction Research, Vanderbilt University, USA
- 2Department of Neurobiology, UMass Chan Medical School, USA; Brudnick Neuropsychiatric Research Institute, UMass Chan Medical School, USA
- 3Vanderbilt Center for Addiction Research, Vanderbilt University, USA
- 4Department of Neurobiology, UMass Chan Medical School, USA; Brudnick Neuropsychiatric Research Institute, UMass Chan Medical School, USA; Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, Vanderbilt University, USA; Vanderbilt Center for Addiction Research, Vanderbilt University, USA; Corresponding author at: UMass Chan Medical School, 366 Plantation Street, N7.1001, Worcester, MA 01605-2324.
Abstract
Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is marked by substantial heterogeneity in drinking behaviors and health outcomes, underscoring the need for preclinical models that capture interindividual variability. We recently developed open-source capacitive lickometer systems for high-resolution monitoring of mouse fluid intake. Using LIQ PARTI and LIQ HD, we found substantial individual differences in alcohol intake that varied across sex and housing status in C57Bl/6 J mice. Here, we conducted an expanded secondary analysis of this continuous access ethanol drinking data to quantify behavioral variability in group- and singly-housed mice. We introduce a fluid “meal” analysis that integrates drinking across ethanol and water sippers to define discrete drinking episodes. Using this approach, we observed sex- and housing-dependent reorganization of drinking structure across group- and single-housed settings, with group-housed males exhibiting fewer but faster liquid meals. To further characterize multidimensional drinking patterns, we applied principal component analysis to meal variables and identified a “distributed meal” phenotype defined by more meals, reduced meal size, earlier drinking onset, and higher ethanol preference, that segregates by sex. Considering factors that influence behaviors in a social environment, we next examined whether social hierarchy was associated with these patterns using a tube test dominance assay. Social rank was unrelated to ethanol and meal measures; however, offensive dominance behavior positively correlated with principal component scores in males. Together, these findings demonstrate that high-resolution, longitudinal analysis of ethanol drinking reveals distinct behavioral phenotypes that are associated with key components of social behaviors, providing a potential framework for understanding heterogeneity in AUD-related drinking.
Related
- Individual differences reveal shared computational structure in perceptual decision-making
- Respiration and individual differences shape behavioral and inter-brain synchronization
- Individual Differences in Dopaminergic Modulation of Exploration–Exploitation Behavior
- Multi-omics reveals accumulation mechanisms underlying differences in sesquiterpenoid content across different growth environments of Atractylodes macrocephala rhizome
- Why we hug: Individual differences predict emotional touch memories
BibTeX
@article{doyle2026individual,
title = {{Individual differences in ethanol drinking meal structure are shaped by social environments}},
author = {Marie A. Doyle and Caitlyn M. Edwards and Sabrina D. Hallal and Samuel M. Bond and Nicholas Petersen and Danny G. Winder},
journal = {Addiction Neuroscience},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1016/j.addicn.2026.100290},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addicn.2026.100290},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Individual differences in ethanol drinking meal structure are shaped by social environments
AU - Marie A. Doyle
AU - Caitlyn M. Edwards
AU - Sabrina D. Hallal
AU - Samuel M. Bond
AU - Nicholas Petersen
AU - Danny G. Winder
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/30
JO - Addiction Neuroscience
DO - 10.1016/j.addicn.2026.100290
UR - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addicn.2026.100290
AB - Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is marked by substantial heterogeneity in drinking behaviors and health outcomes, underscoring the need for preclinical models that capture interindividual variability. We recently developed open-source capacitive lickometer systems for high-resolution monitoring of mouse fluid intake. Using LIQ PARTI and LIQ HD, we found substantial individual differences in alcohol intake that varied across sex and housing status in C57Bl/6 J mice. Here, we conducted an expanded secondary analysis of this continuous access ethanol drinking data to quantify behavioral variability in group- and singly-housed mice. We introduce a fluid “meal” analysis that integrates drinking across ethanol and water sippers to define discrete drinking episodes. Using this approach, we observed sex- and housing-dependent reorganization of drinking structure across group- and single-housed settings, with group-housed males exhibiting fewer but faster liquid meals. To further characterize multidimensional drinking patterns, we applied principal component analysis to meal variables and identified a “distributed meal” phenotype defined by more meals, reduced meal size, earlier drinking onset, and higher ethanol preference, that segregates by sex. Considering factors that influence behaviors in a social environment, we next examined whether social hierarchy was associated with these patterns using a tube test dominance assay. Social rank was unrelated to ethanol and meal measures; however, offensive dominance behavior positively correlated with principal component scores in males. Together, these findings demonstrate that high-resolution, longitudinal analysis of ethanol drinking reveals distinct behavioral phenotypes that are associated with key components of social behaviors, providing a potential framework for understanding heterogeneity in AUD-related drinking.
SN - 2772-3925
ER -