Social interaction with an alcohol-intoxicated peer alters behavior in adolescent male and female rats

Faculty Mentor

Antoniette Maldonado-Devincci, Ph.D.

Department

Department of Biology

Document Type

Poster

Publication Date

Spring 2019

Disciplines

Biology

Abstract

Alcohol readily facilitates social interactions and this effect plays an important role in adolescent drinking behaviors. During adolescence, there is an increase in social directed behavior in animals, which mimics adolescent human behavior. The goal of the present experiment was to conduct a detailed analysis of social and non-social behaviors that are altered following social interaction with an alcohol-intoxicated peer in adolescent male and female Sprague Dawley rats. Results show that ethanol intake and ethanol preference were increased in adolescent females, but not males, that socially interacted with an alcohol-intoxicated peer. We observed decreased social play and increased social contact in both males and females that socially interacted with an alcohol-intoxicated peer. Adolescent females that socially interacted with an alcohol-intoxicated peer showing greater social investigation relative to adolescent females that socially interacted with a non-intoxicated peer. In contrast, there were no differences in non-social behaviors, including rearing and self-grooming following social interaction with an alcohol-intoxicated peer. Together, these data indicate that the increase in ethanol intake observed in females that socially interacted with an alcohol-intoxicated peer may be due to changes in social investigation.

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