An investigation into the relationship between the fetal alcohol syndrome and shock0elicited aggression in rats.

Abstract

Over the past 20 years, investigations into the causation and possible effects of the fetal alcohol syndrome have flourished. As clearly indicated by the review of literature, the use of alcohol by women, and more specifically by pregnant women, has increased dramatically. Maternal alcohol drinking may affect the offspring via growth and developmental deficiencies, cognitive impairment, and various behavioral impairments. Thus, the intent of numerous animal studies has been to closely simulate human conditions, investigate factors in each category mentioned above, and hence, provide data to help educate women about the dangers involved to their offspring if maternal drinking should occur during pregnancy. The primary purpose of the present study was to investigate the relationship between fetal alcohol syndrome and shock-elicited aggression in rats. Additionally, activity behavior and open-field exploratory behavior was measured. A free-feeding procedure and surrogate fostering of offspring Were used as controls. The results of the activity testing Indicated that males were significantly more active than the females, with no significant difference between fetal-alcohol and non-fetalalcohol animals. The exploratory testing revealed that females displayed significantly more exploratory behavior than males. However, significant differences between groups within male and female categories did exist. These differences were due to the high levels of exploration shown by animals that had remained with a mother that continued to receive alcohol until their weaning. Overall, the results of the shock elicited aggression testing indicated that males did not differ significantly from females. However, both males and female fetal-alcohol animals were significantly higher than the non-fetal-alcohol animals in both aggressive response data and response-time data.