This is an abstract for my research done in the Center for Behavioral Teratology's lab. I was working in conjunction with the McNair Scholarship Program. I then had the privilege of presenting my research at the UCSD Summer Research Conference

EXERCISE AS A TREATMENT FOR SOME FETAL ALCOHOL EFFECTS

Lynn Whinery

Mentor : Jennifer Thomas, PhD

Abstract

Children exposed to alcohol prenatally may suffer from severe brain damage, which is expressed as a variety of behavioral problems, including hyperactivity and learning deficits. There is an urgent need to identify effective treatments for fetal alcohol effects. Physical exercise can enhance learning ability and increase neurogenesis in the hippocampus, a brain area important for learning and memory. Thus, the present study examined whether physical exercise might reduce the severity of alcohol-induced behavioral alterations. Sprague-Dawley rats were exposed to 5.25 g/kg/day ethanol during the third trimester equivalent (postnatal days (PD) 4-9) via intubation. Intubated sham control and nontreated controls were included. From PD 21-51, half of the subjects were given access to running wheels. On PD 52, spatial learning was measured with the Morris water maze and on PD 60, activity levels were measured in an open field. Ethanol exposure significantly impaired performance on the spatial learning test compared to both control groups, an effect mitigated with access to running wheels. Activity level was altered in both ethanol-exposed and intubated controls compared to nontreated controls, and some of these effects were attenuated with exercise. These data suggest that exercise increases neuronal plasticity in subjects exposed to alcohol during development and have important implications for children with fetal alcohol effects.

 

This is a personal homepage and does not represent the opinions of San Diego State University