These data provided insight into how the adolescent brain responds to ethanol insult during adolescence and that these effects persist into adulthood. These data contribute to an understanding of how the human adolescent brain may develop and also how alcohol use during adolescence effects normal brain development. Clinical and experimental research should continue to focus on the development of the adolescent brain so to better understand how to treat adolescent substance use/abuse. Future research should investigate whether elevated basal DA impacts ethanol-seeking behavior differently in adolescent and adult rats as DA has been shown to mediate drug-seeking behavior in adult rodents.
