Chronic Drinking During Adolescence Predisposes the Adult Rat for Continued Heavy Drinking: Neurotrophin and Behavioral Adaptation after Long-Term, Continuous Ethanol Exposure.

ABSTRACT: Previous research has found that adolescent ethanol (EtOH) exposure alters drug seeking behaviors, cognition and neuroplasticity. Using male Sprague Dawley rats, differences in spatial working memory, non-spatial discrimination learning and behavioral flexibility were explored as a function of age at the onset (mid-adolescent vs. adult) of chronic EtOH exposure (CET). Concentrations of mature brain-derived neurotrophic factor (mBDNF) and beta-nerve growth factor (β-NGF) in the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus were also assessed at different time-points: during CET, following acute abstinence (48-hrs), and after protracted abstinence (6-8 wks). Our results revealed that an adolescent onset of CET leads to increased EtOH consumption that persisted into adulthood. In both adult and adolescen

SUBMITTER: Fernandez GM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4773001 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature