Effects of moderate prenatal ethanol exposure and age on social behavior, spatial response perseveration errors and motor behavior.
Persistent deficits in social behavior are among the major negative consequences associated with exposure to ethanol during prenatal development. Prior work from our laboratory has linked deficits in social behavior following moderate prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) in the rat to functional alterations in the ventrolateral frontal cortex [21]. In addition to social behaviors, the regions comprising the ventrolateral frontal cortex are critical for diverse processes ranging from orofacial motor movements to flexible alteration of behavior in the face of changing consequences. The broader behavioral implications of altered ventrolateral frontal cortex function following moderate PAE have, however, not been examined. In the present study we evaluated the consequences of moderate PAE on social behavior, tongue protrusion, and flexibility in a variant of the Morris water task that required modification of a well-established spatial response. PAE rats displayed deficits in tongue protrusion, reduced flexibility in the spatial domain, increased wrestling, and decreased investigation, indicating that several behaviors associated with ventrolateral frontal cortex function are impaired following moderate PAE. A linear discriminant analysis revealed that measures of wrestling and tongue protrusion provided the best discrimination of PAE rats from saccharin-exposed control rats. We also evaluated all behaviors in young adult (4-5 months) or older (10-11 months) rats to address the persistence of behavioral deficits in adulthood and possible interactions between early ethanol exposure and advancing age. Behavioral deficits in each domain persisted well into adulthood (10-11 months), however, there was no evidence that aging enhances the effects of moderate PAE within the age ranges that were studied.
Department of Psychology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, United States; Department of Neurosciences, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, United States. Electronic address: dahamilt@unm.edu.
Derek A
DA
Hamilton
Department of Psychology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, United States.
Daniel
D
Barto
Department of Psychology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, United States.
Carlos I
CI
Rodriguez
Department of Psychology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, United States.
Christy M
CM
Magcalas
Department of Psychology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, United States; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, United States.
Brandi C
BC
Fink
Department of Psychology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, United States.
James P
JP
Rice
Department of Psychology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, United States.
Clark W
CW
Bird
Department of Neurosciences, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, United States.
Suzy
S
Davies
Department of Psychology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, United States; Department of Neurosciences, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, United States.
Daniel D
DD
Savage
D000374:Aggression / Q000502:physiology; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D002492:Central Nervous System Depressants / Q000009:adverse effects; D016002:Discriminant Analysis; D000431:Ethanol / Q000009:adverse effects; D056344:Executive Function / Q000502:physiology*; D005106:Exploratory Behavior / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D063647:Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology*; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000502:physiology*; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000187:drug effects / Q000254:growth & development / Q000503:physiopathology; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects / Q000503:physiopathology; D020318:Rats, Long-Evans; D012919:Social Behavior; D065854:Spatial Navigation / Q000502:physiology*; D014059:Tongue / Q000502:physiology
D002492:Central Nervous System Depressants; D000431:Ethanol
Aggression; Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder; Fetal alcohol syndrome; Morris water task; Prefrontal cortex; Spatial navigation