MITIGATING EFFECTS OF COMBINED PRENATAL AND POSTNATAL EXPOSURE TO ETHANOL ON LEARNED PERSISTENCE IN THE WEANLING RAT - A REPLICATION UNDER HIGH-PEAK CONDITIONS

Replicating an earlier report under low-peak blood ethanol concentrati on (BEC) conditions, weanling rats, exposed in utero or postnatally to levels of ethanol that resulted in high-peak BECs, showed an attenuat ed partial reinforcement extinction effect, whereas pups exposed both pre- and postnatally did not differ from controls. Also supporting ear lier work, postnatal exposure resulted in significantly reduced brain weight and had effects on hippocampal measures. These results from the combined-exposure group, along with earlier work, point to a possible mitigating influence in the rat of prenatal exposure to ethanol on th e behavioral effects of postnatal exposure. They suggest that a protec tive factor may be operating, akin to the proactive immunoreactive eff ects of heat shock proteins shown in recent work at the cellular and h ippocampal levels.