1. Conclusions and Future Directions
•Several non-significant results were seen on the EPM test; these tended to
point to decreased anxiety-like behavior in EtOH-exposed animals
•EtOH exposure produced anxiety-like behavior in males, but not females, on
LDB test
•We will do biochemical and electrophysiological studies to investigate the
molecular bases behind our results
•We will also examine whether or not these results are similar in adolescent
animals
Impact of Prenatal Alcohol Exposure on
Development of Anxiety-Like Behavior in Adults
Cole JM, Varlinskaya EI, and Diaz MR
Department of Psychology, Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY, USA
Background
•95% of children with Fetal Alcohol
Spectrum Disorders will have
mental health problems [1]
•Prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE)
during early pregnancy is
associated with higher likelihood
of anxiety during childhood [2]
•PAE on gestational day (G) 12,
equivalent to the 2nd trimester of
human pregnancy, produces social
anxiety in adolescence [3]
•We aim to expand on prior studies
by examining the development of
generalized anxiety-like behaviors
in adulthood
Methods
•Pregnant female Sprague-Dawley
rats were exposed to (i.p.) ethanol
(EtOH) or saline on G12.
•Adult offspring were tested for
anxiety-like behaviors on the
elevated plus maze (EPM) or the
light/dark box (LDB) for 5 min.
•Before testing on the EPM, animals
were socially isolated for 1 hour [4].
•Behaviors were video recorded and
analyzed later by an experimenter
blind to the treatment conditions
•Data were statistically analyzed
using GraphPad Prism 6 software
References
1. Fasworld.com
2. O’Leary et. al, Pediatrics.
2010
3. Middleton et. al, Dev.
Neuro. 2012
4. Spear et. al, Pharm.
Biochem. Behavior. 2009
Elevated Plus Maze Light/Dark Box
% Open Arm Entries
(Males)
S a lin e E tO H
0
1 0
2 0
3 0
4 0
Time(sec)
P = 0.0537
S a lin e E tO H
0
1 0
2 0
3 0
4 0
Time(sec) S a lin e E tO H
0
1 0
2 0
3 0
4 0
Time(sec)
% Open Arm Time
(Males)
S a lin e E tO H
0
1 0
2 0
3 0
4 0
5 0
Time(sec)
1 2 3 4 5
0 .0
0 .5
1 .0
1 .5
2 .0
M in u te
#ofLightEntries
S a lin e M a le
E tO H M ale
*
1
2
3
4
5
-0 .5
0 .0
0 .5
1 .0
1 .5
2 .0
2 .5
M in u te
#ofLightEntries
S a lin e F e m a le
E tO H F e m a le
% Open Arm Entries
(Females)
P = 0.5026
% Open Arm Time
(Females)
P = 0.0576
P = 0.2096
P = 0.0007
Light Entries by Minute
(Males)
Light Entries by Minute
(Females)
P = 0.0937
We are thankful for the
support of the Center for
Development and Behavioral
Neuroscience (CDBN)