title: Therapeutic motor training ameliorates cerebellar effects of postnatal binge alcohol.
abstract: We have used training on complex motor tasks to ameliorate effect of neonatal alcohol exposure. On postnatal days 4-9, alcohol-exposed (AE) rats were given 4.5 g/kg/day of alcohol by artificial rearing; gastrostomy control (GC) rats were given an isocaloric mixture of maltose/dextrin; suckling control (SC) rats were suckled normally. At 6 months of age, animals from the three groups underwent either rehabilitation training on a series of complex motor tasks, motor conditioning on a flat runway, or an inactive home cage condition. Subsequently, animals were either tested on three tests of balance and coordination, or were used for cerebellar morphology. After rehabilitation, but not after motor conditioning, male and female AE rats exhibited significant improvement in independent tests of motor skills. Using unbiased stereological morphological techniques, rehabilitated SC and AE animals were found to exhibit significantly more parallel fiber synapses per Purkinje cell in the paramedian lobule.
authors.affiliation: Beckman Institute, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL 61801, USA. aklintso@s.psych.uiuc.edu
authors.forename: A Y
authors.initials: AY
authors.lastname: Klintsova
authors.forename: C R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Goodlett
authors.forename: W T
authors.initials: WT
authors.lastname: Greenough
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D002531:Cerebellum / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D000431:Ethanol / Q000633:toxicity*; D005260:Female; D063647:Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity / Q000187:drug effects; D010805:Physical Conditioning, Animal; D011689:Purkinje Cells / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology; D051381:Rats
chemical_list: D000431:Ethanol