title: Moderate prenatal alcohol exposure and quantification of social behavior in adult rats.
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 PAE(1), 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of New Mexico; Department of Neurosciences, University of New Mexico; dahamilt@unm.edu.
authors.forename: Derek A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Hamilton
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of New Mexico.
authors.forename: Christy M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Magcalas
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of New Mexico.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Barto
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of New Mexico.
authors.forename: Clark W
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Bird
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of New Mexico.
authors.forename: Carlos I
authors.initials: CI
authors.lastname: Rodriguez
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of New Mexico.
authors.forename: Brandi C
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Fink
authors.affiliation: Canadian Centre for Behavioural Neuroscience, University of Lethbridge.
authors.forename: Sergio M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Pellis
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosciences, University of New Mexico.
authors.forename: Suzy
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Davies
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of New Mexico; Department of Neurosciences, University of New Mexico.
authors.forename: Daniel D
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Savage
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000187:drug effects*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D000431:Ethanol / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000633:toxicity*; D005260:Female; D063647:Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders / Q000523:psychology / Q000662:veterinary*; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects / Q000662:veterinary*; D051381:Rats; D012376:Rodent Diseases / Q000209:etiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D012919:Social Behavior
chemical_list: D000431:Ethanol