Prenatal alcohol exposure in humans is associated with the Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS). The syndrome includes several neurobehavioral deficits, including poor memory, hyperactivity and sensory impairments. While much is known about the deficits in humans and in laboratory animals after prenatal alcohol exposure, little is known about potential treatments to reduce the impact of alcohol exposure on behavior. It is generally believed that the effects of prenatal alcohol exposure on cognitive function are permanent, but little experimental data supports such a supposition. The proposed experiments will examine the effects of early postnatal environmental enrichment on memory and learning deficits in rats prenatally exposed to alcohol. Early environmental enrichment enhances learning and memory in normal rats, and such improvements in cognition are associated with dramatic increases in dendritic branching and dendritic spine density in cortex and hippocampus. The demonstration of such effects in an animal model of fetal alcohol effects would support more research to develop early behavioral intervention strategies for the treatment of FAS. In addition, the precise nature of the memory impairment observed after prenatal alcohol exposure has not been systematically explored. The proposed research will examine two basic forms of memory; spatial memory and object recognition memory, after prenatal alcohol exposure. The proposed projects are ideally suited for students in that they will teach basic principles of behavioral teratological research, provide experience in the use of laboratory animals in research, and expose students to elements of experimental design and data analysis. In addition, the projects are designed so that MBRS students can take a major hands-on role in the research.
| Jacobson, Joseph L; Dodge, Neil C; Burden, Matthew J et al. (2011) Number processing in adolescents with prenatal alcohol exposure and ADHD: differences in the neurobehavioral phenotype. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 35:431-42 |
| Judge, S; Mammen, E; Dunbar, J C (1995) The effect of streptozocin-induced diabetes on platelet aggregation as determined by impedance aggregometry and platelet secretion: a possible role for nitric oxide. J Assoc Acad Minor Phys 6:100-4 |
