were eight weeks of age at the onset of drinking. Animals were housed in groups of four in
standard Plexiglas cages, in a temperature-controlled vivarium (23℃), under a 12-h reverse
light/dark cycle (lights off at 10 a.m.). Animals were identified using small animal ear
tags (Stoelting, Wood Dale, IL). Food and water were available ad
libitum, with the exception of the 2-h alcohol-drinking period. The study had a 2
(alcohol or water) × 3 (vehicle, buspirone, or MTEP) factorial design, with
n = 10/group. All experiments were conducted in compliance with the
National Institutes of Health Guide for Care and Use of Laboratory Animals (NIH
Publication No. 80–23, revised 2014) and approved by the IACUC of the University of
California, Santa Barbara.