While the exact cause of the increase in ethanol consumption during adolescence is not known, age differences intolerance development and sensitivity to ethanol's rewarding effect may play a contributory role. The proposedresearch will examine age differences in tolerance to ethanol's effects on the autonomic system as well as severalpotential markers of ethanol's hedonic effects between adolescent and adult rats. Using a 2-hour limited accessparadigm, tolerance to ethanol's autonomic effects as well as the effects of ethanol on markers of dopaminefunctioning within brain pathways implicated in reward will be measured in animals of both ages. This testingparadigm will provide a unique assessment of age differences in these factors as previous work in this area hasused experimenter-administered ethanol but work in our laboratory has indicated that mode of ethanoladministration may differentially impact adolescents and adults. Adolescents are expected to show less acutesensitivity to ethanol, faster tolerance development and less dopaminergic activity following chronic ethanolexposure than adults, supporting the hypothesis that younger animals consume more ethanol than adults in partbecause of their relative insensitivity to its effects.
| Ristuccia, Robert C; Spear, Linda P (2008) Autonomic responses to ethanol in adolescent and adult rats: a dose-response analysis. Alcohol 42:623-9 |
| Ristuccia, Robert C; Spear, Linda P (2008) Adolescent and adult heart rate responses to self-administered ethanol. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 32:1807-15 |
| Ristuccia, Robert C; Hernandez, Michael; Wilmouth, Carrie E et al. (2007) Differential expression of ethanol-induced hypothermia in adolescent and adult rats induced by pretest familiarization to the handling/injection procedure. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 31:575-81 |
