An important initial report in the rodent MRI literature was the demonstration that brain growth continues beyond what would be considered adulthood in rats bred to prefer alcohol (i.e., alcohol-preferring rats, or P rats). Indeed, whole-brain volume in such rats continued to grow until approximately postnatal day 450 (Sullivan et al. 2006a), well past adulthood, which is typically considered as postnatal day 90 (Bell et al. 2013). Baseline studies (in the absence of alcohol [i.e., EtOH] exposure) also suggest that brains of alcohol-preferring rats are different relative to their wild-type counterparts, including reduced gray-matter volume in thalamus, ventral tegmental area, and insular and cingulate cortices (Gozzi et al. 2013).
