Moderate Prenatal Alcohol Exposure and Quantification of Social Behavior in Adult Rats |
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Authors: | Derek A. Hamilton Christy M. Magcalas Daniel Barto Clark W. Bird Carlos I. Rodriguez Brandi C. Fink Sergio M. Pellis Suzy Davies Daniel D. Savage |
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Affiliation: | 1.Department of Psychology, University of New Mexico;2.Department of Neurosciences, University of New Mexico;3.Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of New Mexico;4.Canadian Centre for Behavioural Neuroscience, University of Lethbridge |
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Abstract: | Alterations in social behavior are among the major negative consequences observed in children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASDs). Several independent laboratories have demonstrated robust alterations in the social behavior of rodents exposed to alcohol during brain development across a wide range of exposure durations, timing, doses, and ages at the time of behavioral quantification. Prior work from this laboratory has identified reliable alterations in specific forms of social interaction following moderate prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) in the rat that persist well into adulthood, including increased wrestling and decreased investigation. These behavioral alterations have been useful in identifying neural circuits altered by moderate PAE1, and may hold importance for progressing toward a more complete understanding of the neural bases of PAE-related alterations in social behavior. This paper describes procedures for performing moderate PAE in which rat dams voluntarily consume ethanol or saccharin (control) throughout gestation, and measurement of social behaviors in adult offspring. |
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Keywords: | Neuroscience Issue 94 Aggression Alcohol Teratogenesis Alcohol-related Neurodevelopmental Disorders ARND Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders FASD Fetal Alcohol Syndrome FAS Social interaction |
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