Growing evidence suggests that adolescent alcohol exposure has deleterious effects on physiological and behavioral development and significantly increases vulnerability to excessive alcohol consumption in adulthood. The proposed studies broadly aim to characterize the adolescent developmental time period as a unique window of risk for alcohol-induced damage and to investigate whether abstention from alcohol in adolescence is protective, increasing resilience to administration in macaque monkeys that reliably produces a pattern of excessive ethanol consumption. We propose to use this model to investigate the effects of a binge-pattern alcohol exposure during the adolescent period on physiological and behavioral development, and subsequently, as a risk factor or increased alcohol consumption during adulthood. By using a longitudinal design, as well as between-groups comparison of animals exposed to alcohol during adolescence, animals first exposed during adulthood, and abstinent animals never exposed to alcohol, we will be able to examine potential additive or interactive effects of adolescent alcohol exposure in order to determine whether the outcome of adult exposure is altered by previous alcohol experience. The extent and longevity of alcohol effects will be evident from group comparisons after extended adult alcohol consumption. Finally, recovery from alcohol-induced damage will be assessed during a wash-out period. Recovery from alcohol-induced damage will be assessed during a wash-out period followed by opportunity to resume drinking. The final, extended phase of alcohol self-administration will characterize abusive patterns of alcohol intake that endure through a significant portion of adult life.
