Drinking-in-the-Dark (DID) Paradigm

We adapted the Drinking-In-the-Dark (DID) model of binge-like alcohol exposure for a long-term period (17 weeks), as previously described (Rhodes et al., 2005; Patkar et al., 2017; Belmer et al., 2018). Briefly, mice were individually housed in double-grommet cages and given access to one bottle of 20% (v/v) alcohol for a 2 h period (12 pm to 2 pm), 3 h into the dark cycle, Monday to Friday. Two bottles of filtered water were available at all other times. Alcohol was presented in 50 ml, graduated, plastic centrifuge tubes (Corning Centristar, New York, NY, USA) fitted with rubber stoppers and a 2.5-inch stainless-steel sipper tube with double ball bearings. Alcohol bottles were weighed before and after 2 h following presentation, and measurements were taken to the nearest 0.1 gram (g). Mouse weights were measured daily to calculate the g/kg alcohol intake.