Ethanol Tolerance From a Pavlovian Perspective

Tolerance to ethanol has been shown to be strongly dependent on the context of drug intake. The same amount of ethanol can cause an effect in one context and be almost innocuous in other. Shepard Siegel's model for drug tolerance proposes that the stimuli and contexts present during drug consumption become associated with the effects of the drug through associative learning. Here, we review this model and its explanation of the acquisition, treatment, relapse, and prevention of ethanol tolerance. Likewise, we present and describe how therapy can be improved by using techniques that have shown to enhance extinction learning in basic research. The model seems suitable to explain the acquisition, extinction, and relapse of ethanol tolerance; however, more basic and translational research in the area is needed.