A developmental perspective on alcohol use disorders: data from animal models

PAUTASSI R.M.

Buffalo

Conferencia; PharmTox Seminar series; 2017

Medical Sciences Dept, University of Buffalo

A developmental perspective on alcohol use disorders: data from animal modelsRicardo M Pautassi. Instituto de Investigaciones Médicas M. y M. Ferreyra (INIMEC ? CONICET) and Fac. de Psicología, UNC, Córdoba, Cba, ARGENTINA.The prevalence of alcohol use disorders (AUD) is higher during adolescence than in any other developmental stage. Data gathered via animal models indicates age-related differences in the motivational effects of alcohol and in stress-induced alcohol drinking that may promote this higher prevalence. Adolescents exhibit higher sensitivity to alcohol-induced appetitive reinforcement and behavioral stimulation, yet have a blunted response to alcohol-induced aversion and sedation. Another important topic is how to discriminate between those adolescents that will engage in problematic alcohol drinking from those that will keep a controlled level of intake. Data gathered in my lab suggests that adolescents exhibiting greater response to novel stimuli or to the stimulant effects of ethanol, or exacerbated anxiety responses, may be at greater risk for alcohol initiation and escalation. Yet adolescent alcohol intake may be modulated by events taking place much earlier, during early infancy or during pregnancy. Prenatal alcohol exposure (PEE) seems to promote adolescent alcohol intake by altering baseline and alcohol-induced dopaminergic activity in the mesocorticolimbic pathway of the adolescent brain. This effect, in turn, may be caused by PEE altering the expression of opioid (i.e., dynorphin and nociceptin) systems related genes and upstream transcription factors (i.e., BDNF, Delta-FosB) in the infant and adolescent brain. In conjunction, the evidence presented suggests different routes by which adolescents may engage in trajectories of problematic alcohol use.