Abstract
Ethanol is well known to adversely affect frontal executive functioning, which continues to develop throughout adolescence and into young adulthood. This is also a developmental window in which ethanol is misused by a significant number of adolescents. We examined the effects of acute and chronic ethanol exposure during adolescence on behavioral inhibition and efficiency using a modified water maze task. During acquisition, rats were trained to find a stable visible platform onto which they could escape. During the test phase, the stable platform was converted to a visible floating platform (providing no escape) and a new hidden platform was added in the opposite quadrant. The hidden platform was the only means of escape during the test phase. In experiment 1, adolescent animals received ethanol (1.0g/kg) 30min before each session during the test phase. In experiment 2, adolescent animals received chronic intermittent ethanol (5.0g/kg) for 16 days (PND30 To PND46) prior to any training in the maze. At PND72, training was initiated in the same modified water maze task. Results from experiment 1 indicated that acute ethanol promoted behavioral disinhibition and inefficiency. Experiment 2 showed that chronic intermittent ethanol during adolescence appeared to have no lasting effect on behavioral disinhibition or new spatial learning during adulthood. However, chronic ethanol did promote behavioral inefficiency. In summary, results indicate that ethanol-induced promotion of perseverative behavior may contribute to the many adverse behavioral sequelae of alcohol intoxication in adolescents and young adults. Moreover, the long-term effect of adolescent chronic ethanol exposure on behavioral efficiency is similar to that observed after chronic exposure in humans.
Highlights
It is well established that ethanol has a detrimental effect on executive cognitive processes
chronic intermittent ethanol (CIE) administered during adolescence had no lasting effect on disinhibition, it did promote behavioral inefficiency under circumstances in which animals swam to the floating platform instead of the hidden platform
Perseverative behavior is generally recognized as a failure of response inhibition, the latter being a component of a larger set of skills referred to as executive functions
Summary
It is well established that ethanol has a detrimental effect on executive cognitive processes. The long-term effects of chronic ethanol exposure on executive functions are less well understood. The most severe executive function deficits observed after chronic ethanol abuse occur in individuals with alcohol induced Korsakoff’s syndrome. The prefrontal executive deficits observed in non-Korsakoff alcohol abuse patients are milder in nature and appear to be driven as much by age and duration of abuse and abstinence as they are by the severity of the abuse. The relative few studies in animal models indicate that chronic ethanol produces deficits in perseveration and cognitive flexibility [7,8], though it is challenging to establish behavioral tasks for rodents that model the higher order cognitive domains of executive function in humans
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