| Autor: |
Ruixiang Wang, Connor D. Martin, Anna L. Lei, Kathryn A. Hausknecht, Marisa Turk, Veronika Micov, Francis Kwarteng, Keita Ishiwari, Saida Oubraim, An‐Li Wang, Jerry B. Richards, Samir Haj‐Dahmane, Roh‐Yu Shen |
| Jazyk: |
angličtina |
| Rok vydání: |
2022 |
| Předmět: |
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| Zdroj: |
Alcohol Clin Exp Res |
| Popis: |
BACKGROUND. Individuals with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) often show sensory processing deficits in all sensory modalities. Using an operant light reinforcement model, we tested if prenatal ethanol exposure (PE) could alter operant responding to elicit a contingent sensory stimulus - light onset (turning on light) and habituation of this behavior in rats. We also explored if postnatal environmental enrichment could ameliorate PE-induced deficits. METHODS. Pregnant Sprague Dawley rats were gavaged twice/day with 0 or 3 g/kg/treatment ethanol (15% w/v) during gestational days 8–20, mimicking second-trimester heavy PE in humans. The offspring were reared in the standard housing condition or an enriched condition. Adult male and female offspring underwent an operant light reinforcement experiment with either a short-access or a long-access procedure. A dishabituation test was also conducted to further characterize the habituation process. RESULTS. In the short-access procedure, PE led to increased operant responding to the contingent light-onset in both sexes reared in the standard housing condition. Such an effect was not observed in rats reared in enriched condition due to an overall decrease in responding. Moreover, rats reared in enriched condition showed greater short-term habituation. In the long access procedure, PE rats showed increased responding and impaired long-term habituation. The long-access procedure facilitated both short-term and long-term habituation in control and PE rats. CONCLUSION. Prenatal ethanol exposure increases responding to contingent light-onset and impairs the long-term habituation process. The PE-induced deficits could be ameliorated by rearing in the enriched environment and increasing the duration and frequency of exposure to light-onset. The PE-induced effects are similar to increased sensation-seeking, a subtype of sensory-processing deficits, which is often observed in individuals with FASD. Our findings could inform a suitable animal model for investigating the underlying mechanisms as well as possible intervention strategies for these deficits in FASD. |
| Databáze: |
OpenAIRE |
| Externí odkaz: |
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