Adolescent alcohol exposure decreases frontostriatal resting-state functional connectivity in adulthood

Margaret A. Broadwater, Sung Ho Lee, Yang Yu, Hongtu Zhu, Fulton T. Crews, Donita L. Robinson, Yen Yu Ian Shih

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

51 Scopus citations

Abstract

Connectivity of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) matures through adolescence, coinciding with emergence of adult executive function and top-down inhibitory control over behavior. Alcohol exposure during this critical period of brain maturation may affect development of PFC and frontolimbic connectivity. Adult rats exposed to adolescent intermittent ethanol (AIE; 5 g/kg ethanol, 25 percent v/v in water, intragastrically, 2-day-on, 2-day-off, postnatal day 25–54) or water control underwent resting-state functional MRI to test the hypothesis that AIE induces persistent changes in frontolimbic functional connectivity under baseline and acute alcohol conditions (2 g/kg ethanol or saline, intraperitoneally administered during scanning). Data were acquired on a Bruker 9.4-T MR scanner with rats under dexmedetomidine sedation in combination with isoflurane. Frontolimbic network regions-of-interest for data analysis included PFC [prelimbic (PrL), infralimbic (IL), and orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) portions], nucleus accumbens (NAc), caudate putamen (CPu), dorsal hippocampus, ventral tegmental area, amygdala, and somatosensory forelimb used as a control region. AIE decreased baseline resting-state connectivity between PFC subregions (PrL-IL and IL-OFC) and between PFC-striatal regions (PrL-NAc, IL-CPu, IL-NAc, OFC-CPu, and OFC-NAc). Acute ethanol induced negative blood-oxygen-level-dependent changes within all regions of interest examined, along with significant increases in functional connectivity in control, but not AIE animals. Together, these data support the hypothesis that binge-like adolescent alcohol exposure causes persistent decreases in baseline frontolimbic (particularly frontostriatal) connectivity and alters sensitivity to acute ethanol-induced increases in functional connectivity in adulthood.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)810-823
Number of pages14
JournalAddiction Biology
Volume23
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 2018

Keywords

  • Sprague–Dawley
  • adolescence
  • ethanol
  • fcMRI
  • prefrontal cortex
  • striatum

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Medicine (miscellaneous)
  • Pharmacology
  • Psychiatry and Mental health

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