PRENATAL EXPOSURE TO ALCOHOL IN ADULT-RATS - RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN SLEEP AND MEMORY DEFICITS, AND EFFECTS OF GLUCOSE-ADMINISTRATION ON MEMORY

Previous studies show that prenatal exposure to alcohol results in sle ep deficits in rats, including reductions in paradoxical sleep. Little is known, however, about the extent or duration of sleep impairments beyond the neonatal period. The present experiment examined effects of prenatal exposure on sleep in young adulthood. Three-hour, daytime sl eep EEGs were obtained in 6-month-old female rats prenatally exposed t o alcohol. Compared to isocaloric pair-fed and ad libitum control grou ps, the alcohol-exposed group showed reduced paradoxical sleep. Non-pa radoxical sleep did not differ between groups. Concurrent deficits wer e obtained in radial arm maze, but not inhibitory (passive) avoidance, performance. One year later, at the age of 18 months, alcohol-exposed rats showed deficits in spontaneous alternation behavior which were r eversed by administration of glucose (100 mg/kg). Deficits in paradoxi cal sleep at 6 months of age were highly correlated with deficits in s pontaneous alternation behavior at 18 months of age, in individual, al cohol-exposed animals. These results provide the first evidence that p renatal exposure to alcohol results in selective and persistent defici ts in sleep. They also show that measures of paradoxical sleep can pre dict impaired memory over a large portion of the life span, and sugges t that glucose can attenuate memory deficits in this population.