ALCOHOL USE AND ABUSE: EMERGENCE OF ETHANOL AFFINITY AS A FUNCTION OF LEARNED EXPERIENCES WITH THE DRUG DURING EARLY ONTOGENY

MOLINA J.C.; ABATE P.; PAUTASSI, R.M.; MARCH, S.M.

Córdoba

Congreso; XIV Reunión Nacional y III Encuentro Internacional de la Asociación Argentina de Ciencias del Comportamiento; 2013

Asociación Argentina de Ciencias del Comportamiento

The analysis of the relationship existing between alcohol and early ontogeny is commonly undertaken through two substantial problems that affect society as a whole. These problems are: i) teratogenic properties of the drug that define the first congenital cause of mental retardation in western societies and ii) alcohol abuse during adolescence and its consequences upon health, education and diverse social problems. Yet, during these last two decades it has also become evident that the above mentioned relationship also implies a significant impact of fetal, neonatal and infantile learning with alcohol upon alcohol consumption and seeking behavior of the drug. Throughout the course of this symposium, empirical evidence will be presented relative to sensory and learning capabilities within the fetal context, during lactation and in weaned infants that imply a firm basis for the acquisition and establishment of alcohol-related memories. In itself, the early functionality of the olfactory system combined with an early predisposition to transfer information between the chemical senses, already implies possibilities of alcohol sensory familiarization processes that in turn, facilitate subsequent recognition and acceptance of the drug. These capabilities blend with the emergence of fetal and infantile learning processes where even low to moderate ethanol doses promote positive and/or negative (antianxiety) reinforcing effects. Specific neurobiological mechanisms, inherent to these particular stages in development, appear to explain not only an early predisposition to accept ethanol but also the rapid acquisition and persistence of memories related with the drug´s motivational properties. The early configuration of the opioid system appears to favor a marked sensitivity to ethanol´s reinforcing properties. In conjunction, certain characteristics of the cerebral catalase system promote reinforcing capabilities of the first product of ethanol metabolism (acetaldehyde). An integral analysis of how alcohol-related-memories are acquired in fetuses and infants, has required the development of new behavioral techniques that overcome the relative immaturity in motor capabilities. Within the context of the symposium, techniques aimed at the analyis of non-associative and associative (pavlovian and operant) learning processes will also be presented. As a whole, the symposium emphasizes the likelihood of early experiences with the drug and the existence of functional mechanisms that determine or modulate later alcohol use and abuse.