majority of excitatory mediodorsal neuron axons innervate the basilar dendritic spines of Layer III PFC pyramidal cells (2005) but excitatory projections from the anterior thalamic nuclei also form synaptic contacts on the basilar dendrites of Layer III pyramidal cells (Shibata, 1993). A reduction in the dendritic complexity of proximal basilar dendrites in mPFC cells could result in a decreased influence of these projections, in particular through a lack of inhibitory signals from the PV cells. This would produce sensory information overload (Wedzony et al., 2005) resulting in only the direct excitatory signals being processed. An increase in excitatory connections is also found when deregulation of the thalamic filter occurs (Stahl, 2008). The thalamic filter serves to regulate the sensory input from afferent fibers traveling through the thalamus and then into the cortex. This allows information processing to occur in an orderly manner (Stahl, 2008). Disruption to this filter leads to a deregulation of information processing in the cortex. A marked reduction of thalamic afferents to the cortical layer III after postnatal alcohol exposure was demonstrated previously (Granato et al., 1995); suggesting modifications to the thalamic filter which result from postnatal alcohol exposure. The current study adds to the previous reports
