To investigate the effects of alcohol on neurogenesis within the context of an adolescent AUD model, ethanol was administered to adolescent rats in a binge model. Rats were approximately 35 days old at the start of alcohol administration, weighing 117.5 ±0.2 g. Rats eventually showed signs of intoxication, but they were limited on average to the lowest level of ataxia (level 1; see Figure 1). This decreased sensitivity of adolescent rats to behavioral intoxication effects of alcohol is consistent with previous reports (Little et al., 1996; White et al., 2002). This administration technique and dosing regimen were similar to past studies except that ethanol was administered three times a day instead of four as reported in Crews et al. (2000). The three doses per day paradigm have been used consistently in adults since 2000 and produces BECs that are more relevant to the human condition. Across all groups examined, the grand mean dose of ethanol was 12.4 ± 0.4 g/kg/day, which resulted in a grand mean BEC of 302.3 ± 12.1 mg/dl. All alcohol groups were similar in intoxication parameters as evidenced by BEC, mean behavioral intoxication score, and dose of ethanol per day (Table 1).
