ARNDS--CORTICAL PLASTICITY AND LEARNING

本项目和IRP资助的其他四个项目的长期目标是了解受产前酒精暴露影响的突触可塑性的神经化学和神经心理学机制，以及它们与成年期认知/学习缺陷的关系。甚至在生命开始之前，成千上万的美国人就因母亲饮酒而永久地受到酒精的影响。即使是适量饮酒也会导致认知/学习缺陷。本项目的具体目的是在成年大鼠中实验评估胎儿酒精暴露对以下方面的影响：长期突触增强（LTP）在自由运动大鼠大脑皮层中对学习和记忆重要区域的研究[j]。2 .大脑皮层中参与认知和学习的重要抑制性突触；在与LTP相关的挑战性行为任务中学习和记忆的测量。这些实验的结果，连同IRP资助包中的结果，将提供对产前酒精暴露可以破坏突触可塑性的神经化学和生理机制的机制的更深层次的理解，突触可塑性是认知/学习的基础。这些信息可以显示出预防终身认知和行为障碍的方法。

The long-term objectives of this project and the other four projects in the IRP grant are to understand the neurochemical and neuropsychological mechanisms of synaptic plasticity which are affected by prenatal exposure to alcohol and their relationship to cognitive/learning deficits in adulthood. Even before life begins, hundreds of thousands of Americans are affected permanently by exposure to alcohol through maternal drinking. Prominent among the adverse effects of exposure to even moderate levels of alcohol is cognitive/learning deficits. The specific aims of this project are to evaluate experimentally in adult rats the effects of fetal alcohol exposure on: 1. long-lasting synaptic enhancement (LTP) in two areas of cerebral cortex important for learning and memory in freely-moving rats, 2. important inhibitory synapses in areas of cerebral cortex involved in cognition and learning, and 3. measures of learning and retention in challenging behavioral tasks linked to LTP by prior work. The results of these experiments, together with those in this IRP grant package, will provide a deeper understanding of the mechanisms by which prenatal alcohol exposure can disrupt the neurochemical and physiological mechanisms of synaptic plasticity that underlie cognition/learning. Such information can show the way to preventing life-long cognitive and behavioral handicaps.