Effect of Voluntary Binge Drinking on the Prefrontal Cortex in Adolescent Rats

描述（由申请人提供）：前额叶皮层在情感和目标导向行为的表达和控制中起着执行作用;然而，它是最后成熟的大脑区域之一。最令人关注的是，男性和女性青少年的“危险、冲动的行为”，如酗酒，可能会影响成熟过程（例如，髓鞘化）对精神健康产生长期影响。该提案使用一种创新的和临床相关的模型，以引起（和控制）频繁发作的自愿酗酒的男性和女性大鼠调查的因果关系的影响，潜在的机制，和可逆性的青少年酗酒的前额叶皮层有髓轴突。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The prefrontal cortex plays an executive role in the expression and control of emotion and goal-directed behaviors; yet, it is one of the last brain regions to mature. Of great concern is how "risky, impulsive behaviors" such as binge alcohol drinking in male and female teenagers may impacts maturational processes (e.g., myelinization) within the prefrontal cortex to have long-lasting consequences on psychiatric health. This proposal uses an innovative and clinically relevant model to elicit (and control) frequent bouts of voluntary binge drinking in male and female rats to investigate the causal effects, underlying mechanisms, and reversibility of adolescent binge drinking myelinated axons in prefrontal cortex.