Matthews Douglas B, Scaletty Samantha, Trapp Sarah, Kastner Abigail, Schneider Amelia M, Schreiber Areonna, Rossmann Gillian
Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, Eau Claire, WI 54701, USA.
Brain Sci. 2022 May 5;12(5):606. doi: 10.3390/brainsci12050606.
Chronic intermittent ethanol exposure during adolescence produces behavioral impairments and neurobiological changes that can last into young adulthood. One such behavioral impairment is reduced behavioral flexibility, a behavioral impairment that has been correlated with the risk for increased ethanol intake. In the current study, we investigated if chronic intermittent ethanol exposure during adolescence alters cognition, including behavioral flexibility, over a 22-month testing period. Female and male rats were treated with either 3.0 g/kg or 5.0 g/kg ethanol via gavage in a chronic intermittent fashion during adolescence and then tested every 4 to 5 months on a series of cognitive measures in the Morris water maze. Chronic intermittent ethanol selectively impaired behavioral flexibility in both female and male rats, although the pattern of results was different as a function of sex. In addition, female, but not male, rats were impaired in a short-term relearning test. Finally, male rats administered ethanol during adolescence were significantly more likely to not survive the 22-month experiment compared to female rats administered ethanol during adolescence. The current results demonstrate that adolescence is a unique period of development where chronic intermittent ethanol exposure produces long-lasting, selective cognitive impairments across the lifespan.
青春期期间慢性间歇性乙醇暴露会导致行为障碍和神经生物学变化，这些变化可持续至青年期。其中一种行为障碍是行为灵活性降低，这种行为障碍与乙醇摄入量增加的风险相关。在本研究中，我们调查了青春期期间慢性间歇性乙醇暴露在22个月的测试期内是否会改变认知，包括行为灵活性。雌性和雄性大鼠在青春期期间通过灌胃以慢性间歇性方式接受3.0 g/kg或5.0 g/kg乙醇处理，然后每4至5个月在莫里斯水迷宫中进行一系列认知测试。慢性间歇性乙醇选择性地损害了雌性和雄性大鼠的行为灵活性，尽管结果模式因性别而异。此外，雌性大鼠（而非雄性大鼠）在短期再学习测试中受损。最后，与青春期接受乙醇处理的雌性大鼠相比，青春期接受乙醇处理的雄性大鼠在22个月的实验中存活下来的可能性显著更低。当前结果表明，青春期是一个独特的发育时期，在此期间慢性间歇性乙醇暴露会在整个生命周期中产生持久的、选择性的认知障碍。
