Adolescent Intermittent Ethanol Impairs Behavioral Flexibility in a Rat Foraging Task in Adulthood.

Adolescent Intermittent Ethanol Impairs Behavioral Flexibility in a Rat Foraging Task in Adulthood. Behav Brain Res. 2019 Jul 15;:112085 Authors: Sey NYA, Alexander GA, Madayag AC, Boettiger CA, Robinson DL Abstract Alcohol exposure is linked to behavioral flexibility deficits in humans, but it is unclear when the critical exposure occurred or if alcohol exposure alone is sufficient to produce behavior deficits. Increasing evidence shows that binge levels of alcohol during adolescence are particularly harmful to the brain, producing physiological and behavioral effects that can persist into adulthood. The present study determined whether adolescent intermittent ethanol (AIE) in rats impaired action selection in a discriminative stimulus task using a foraging response. Rats were exposed to ethanol during adolescence (5 g/kg/day, IG, 2-days-on/2-days-off, postnatal day 25-54). In adulthood, they learned to dig for food reward buried in one of two media, cued with one of two odors. AIE and control rats both learned to discriminate between olfactory cues, but AIE rats were impaired when reversing that learned association (first intra-dimensional reversal). However, AIE rats were faster to reinstate the original odor discrimination rule (second reversal), suggesting perseverative behavior. Next, the reward location was cued by digging media rather than odor. Both groups learned this extra-dimensional shift; however, control rats were sl...
Source: Behavioural Brain Research - Category: Neurology Authors: Tags: Behav Brain Res Source Type: research