ARNDS--CORTICAL PLASTICITY AND LEARNING

这个项目和IRP赠款中的其他四个项目的长期目标是了解胎儿期酒精暴露影响突触可塑性的神经化学和神经心理学机制，以及它们与成年后认知/学习障碍的关系。甚至在生命开始之前，数十万美国人就因母亲饮酒而长期受到酒精的影响。暴露在适度酒精中的不良影响中，最突出的是认知/学习缺陷。本项目的具体目的是在成年大鼠身上实验评估胎儿酒精暴露对以下方面的影响：1.自由活动大鼠大脑皮层两个对学习和记忆至关重要的区域的长时间突触增强(LTP)；2.与认知和学习有关的大脑皮层区域的重要抑制性突触；3.先前工作与LTP相关的挑战性行为任务中学习和保持的措施。这些实验的结果，连同IRP赠款包中的结果，将提供对产前酒精暴露可以破坏作为认知/学习基础的突触可塑性的神经化学和生理机制的更深层次的理解。这样的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.