Zimmerberg B, Sukel H L, Stekler J D
Department of Psychology, Bronfman Science Center, Williams College, Williamstown, MA 01267.
Behav Brain Res. 1991 Jan 31;42(1):49-56. doi: 10.1016/s0166-4328(05)80039-7.
The effects of prenatal alcohol exposure on learning in adult offspring were studied in a spatial task in a T-maze. Male and female Long-Evans rats were selected from litters whose dams had received one of three treatments: alcohol in a liquid diet (35% ethanol-derived calories, 35% EDC), pair-fed nutritional control (0% ethanol-derived calories, 0% EDC) or standard control (lab chow, LC). The task included trial-independent (reference memory) and trial-dependent (working memory) components: subjects were required to make a fixed left-right discrimination, and then to alternate left and right choices to escape water. Prenatal alcohol exposure was associated with a greater number of reference errors for both sexes; only males from the alcohol prenatal treatment group, however, were impaired on the working memory component. These results suggest that prenatal exposure to alcohol can cause behavioral dysfunctions that persist into adulthood. Secondly, the pattern of memory impairments suggests that both sexes may be equivalently damaged in neural areas subserving reference memory, but that males are selectively more vulnerable in neural areas subserving working memory.
在T型迷宫的空间任务中研究了产前酒精暴露对成年后代学习的影响。从母鼠接受三种处理之一的窝中选取雄性和雌性Long-Evans大鼠：液体饮食中的酒精（35%乙醇热量，35% EDC）、配对喂养营养对照（0%乙醇热量，0% EDC）或标准对照（实验室饲料，LC）。该任务包括与试验无关（参考记忆）和与试验相关（工作记忆）的部分：要求受试者进行固定的左右辨别，然后交替左右选择以逃避水。产前酒精暴露与两性更多的参考错误相关；然而，只有产前酒精处理组的雄性在工作记忆部分受损。这些结果表明，产前酒精暴露可导致持续到成年期的行为功能障碍。其次，记忆障碍模式表明，在服务于参考记忆的神经区域，两性可能受到同等程度的损害，但在服务于工作记忆的神经区域，雄性更具选择性地易受伤害。
