Changes in adult neurotransmitter-specific gene expression, postmortem MRI brain region volumes, forebrain histological area, cholinergic neuron density and reversal learning converge to support the conclusion that adolescent binge drinking in mice persistently alters the adult brain. We found greater levels of neurotransmitter-specific gene expression in adolescent brain than adult brain, consistent with other studies finding that dopaminergic, cholinergic and other key neurotransmitters peak during adolescence (Andersen et al., 2000; Crews et al., 2007; Spear, 2000; Tarazi and Baldessarini, 2000). Adulthood changes in neurotransmitter gene expression over 50 days were not as large as adolescent maturational changes in neurotransmitter gene expression, but were statistically evident, suggesting neurotransmitter maturation continues into adulthood. Binge ethanol treatment in adolescence dramatically reduced expression of many neurotransmitter-specific genes early after treatment (P38, Figure 2). None of the neurotransmitter-specific genes showed increased expression following ethanol treatment of adolescents. The greatest reductions were found with the combination of binge AE treatment followed by development to young adulthood, P88. The expression of several genes implicated in mental illnesses were decreased by adolescent binge ethanol treatment. Binge ethanol during adolescence,
