Impaired trace fear conditioning following neonatal ethanol: reversal by choline.
Neonatal ethanol exposure in animals results in performance deficits on tests of hippocampus-dependent spatial memory, and recent studies have shown that extra dietary choline can ameliorate some of these impairments. In this experiment, rats were administered 5.25 g/kg ig ethanol per day or sham intubations on Postnatal Days (PD) 4-9 and choline (0.1 ml of an 18.8 mg/ml solution) or saline subcutaneously on PD 4-20. On PD 30, rats were given delay or trace fear conditioning trials and were tested for conditioned stimulus-elicited freezing 24 hr later. Neonatal ethanol produced a profound impairment in trace conditioning that was reversed by choline. Groups did not differ in delay conditioned responding, indicating that neonatal ethanol produces a relatively selective cognitive deficit that can be alleviated with supplemental choline.
Wagner
Alison F
AF
Department of Psychology, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA 23187-8795, USA.
Hunt
Pamela S
PS
D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D001835:Body Weight / Q000187:drug effects; D002492:Central Nervous System Depressants / Q000009:adverse effects*; D002794:Choline / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003213:Conditioning, Psychological / Q000187:drug effects*; D004347:Drug Interactions; D000431:Ethanol / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005239:Fear / Q000187:drug effects*; D007859:Learning Disabilities / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology; D018697:Nootropic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley
D002492:Central Nervous System Depressants; D018697:Nootropic Agents; D000431:Ethanol; D002794:Choline