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Effects of prenatal alcohol exposure on rat pups' ability to elicit retrieval behavior from dams
Author(s) -
Ness James W.,
Franchina Joseph J.
Publication year - 1990
Publication title -
developmental psychobiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.055
H-Index - 93
eISSN - 1098-2302
pISSN - 0012-1630
DOI - 10.1002/dev.420230109
Subject(s) - righting reflex , gestation , alcohol , fetal alcohol syndrome , ethanol , lactation , prenatal alcohol exposure , pregnancy , reflex , physiology , fetus , psychology , endocrinology , medicine , biology , biochemistry , genetics
Research on fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) has historically held that postnatal deficits result directly from prenatal alcohol exposure. Such exposure may alter infant behavior, and this in turn may affect maternal responsiveness and consequently increase the infant's risk for postnatal deficits. This study examined the effect of prental alcohol exposure on postnatal blood ethanol concentrations, pup development, and the ability of pups to elicit retrieval behaviors from the dam. Dams given access to a 15% ethanol solution throughout gestation and lactation showed blood ethanol concentrations of 0.1% whereas their pups had concentrations below the sensitivity of the test. Prenatal alcohol exposure was shown to have pharmacological effects on the pup's righting reflex and nutritional effects on its rate of weight gain. Control pups were better able to elicit retrieval behavior from control and alcoholic dams than were fetally alcoholic pups. These results indicate that that the condition of the pup can influence maternal responsiveness which, in turn, can influence pup development.