CONICET | Buscador de Institutos y Recursos Humanos

Prenatal exposure to ethanol as well as later socially mediated exposure predict alcohol intake in human adolescents. Animal rat models indicate that preference for ethanols odor and ethanol intake increases after brief interactions with an ethanol intoxicated peer. We tested preference for ethanol odor following social interaction with an ethanol intoxicated peer (demonstrators) in adolescent rats (observers) with or without prenatal ethanol exposure. Social behavior and overall locomotion in the observer-demonstrator dyad was also measured. Social investigation was greater in observers that interacted with an intoxicated demonstrator in comparison to those that interacted with a sober peer. Social contact was increased when the demonstrator was under the effects of ethanol, but only if the observer had experienced ethanol prenatally. Ethanol exerted inhibitory motor effects in the demonstrators. Ethanol odor preference was greater following interaction with an ethanol-intoxicated peer. Prenatal ethanol experience independently increased preference for ethanol odor at test. Fetal contact with ethanol through maternal intoxication at late gestation or peer intoxication at adolescence heightens preference for the drugs chemosensory cues.