Fear conditioning is a behavioral task that is both easily implemented and readily learned by rodents. Trace fear conditioning occurs when an unconditioned stimulus (US), such as a footshock, follows a conditioned stimulus (CS) such as a tone or a light. Following multiple training sessions, the animal is tested in a novel context similar to the training context and freezing responses are recorded in response to presentation of the CS alone (see Figure 2). PNEE rats perform poorly on this task when ethanol is given in the third trimester equivalent [intubation PND 4–9 (240)], with poorest performance observed when ethanol administration occurred from PND 4–6 [intubation (241)].
