Journal
JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE
Volume 38, Issue 27, Pages 6207-6222Publisher
SOC NEUROSCIENCE
DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0550-18.2018
Keywords
adolescence; alcohol; I-h; prefrontal cortex; working memory
Categories
Funding
- [AA022028]
- [AA023531]
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Periodic episodes of excessive alcohol consumption (binge drinking) occur frequently among adolescents, and early binge drinking is associated with an increased risk of alcohol use disorders later in life. The PFC undergoes significant development during adolescence and hence may be especially susceptible to the effects of binge drinking. In humans and in animal models, adolescent alcohol exposure is known to alter PFC neuronal activity and produce deficits in PFC-dependent behaviors, such as decision making, response inhibition, and working memory. Using a voluntary intermittent access to alcohol (IA EtOH) procedure in male mice, we demonstrate that binge-level alcohol consumption during adolescence leads to altered drinking patterns and working memory deficits in young adulthood, two outcomes that suggest medial PFC dysfunction. We recorded from pyramidal neurons (PNs) in the prelimbic subregion of the medial PFC in slices obtained from mice that had IA EtOH and found that they display altered excitability, including a hyperpolarization of the resting membrane potential and reductions in the hyperpolarization-activated cation current (I-h) and in intrinsic persistent activity (a mode of neuronal firing that is dependent on I-h). Many of these effects on intrinsic excitability were sustained following abstinence and observed in mice that showed working memory deficits. In addition, we found that resting membrane potential and the I-h-dependent voltage sag in prelimbic PFC PNs are developmentally regulated during adolescence, suggesting that adolescent alcohol exposure may compromise PFC function by arresting the normal developmental trajectory of PN intrinsic excitability.
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