Alcohol--Physiological effect

The effects of prenatal ethanol exposure, via a liquid diet containing 35% ethanol derived calories, on spatial learning were assessed in the radial arm maze and Morris water maze at 30 and 60 days of age. No significant affects of ethanol exposure were found on either task at either age. The effects of postnatal ethanol exposure, via self administration of a 15% ethanol solution, on spatial learning were assessed in the radial arm maze and Morris water maze. No significant effects of ethanol exposure were found on either task at either 30 or 60 days of age. Subtle differences in performance in the radial arm maze were found at 30 days of age in both the prenatally and postnatally ethanol exposed groups. These differences suggest that the exposure to ethanol postnatally may be interfering with the rate of learning and the ability to learn.

Infant rats display differences in duration of anesthesia in
response to an hypnotic dose of ethanol. These differences
are predictive of the adult rat's preference for ethanol.
Infants as young as 4 days of age that display short duration
of ethanol anesthsia display marked preference for ethanol
when tested as adults. Infants that display long duration of
anesthesia, conversely, exhibit a marked lack of preference.
Additionally, infant ethanol ingestion correlates highly with
adult ethanol ingestion. These findings demonstrate that
adult differences in susceptibility to experimental
alcoholism can be determined in infancy.