Therapeutic motor training ameliorates cerebellar effects of postnatal binge alcohol

We have used training on complex motor tasks to ameliorate effect of neonat al alcohol exposure. On postnatal days 4-9, alcohol-exposed (AE) rats were given 4.5 g/kg/day of alcohol by artificial rearing; gastrostomy control (G C) rats were given an isocaloric mixture of maltose/dextrin; suckling contr ol (SC) rats were suckled normally. At 6 months of age, animals from the th ree groups underwent either rehabilitation training on a series of complex motor tasks, motor conditioning on a fiat runway, or an inactive home cage condition. Subsequently, animals were either tested on three tests of balan ce and coordination, or were used for cerebellar morphology. After rehabili tation, but not after motor conditioning, male and female AE rats exhibited significant improvement in independent tests of motor skills. Using unbias ed stereological morphological techniques, rehabilitated SC and AE animals were found to exhibit significantly more parallel fiber synapses per Purkin je cell in the paramedian lobule. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.