Chunk #88 — Future Directions: Combining Stress and Alcohol Models and Assessment of Multigenerational Effects and Therapeutics — Therapeutic Strategies
Increased opportunity for social interaction is an important part of environmental enrichment paradigms (Moreno Gudiño et al., 2017). Rats exposed to developmental alcohol have altered social behavior in adulthood (Boschen et al., 2014; Middleton et al., 2012; Mooney and Varlinskaya, 2011), however, there is evidence that housing alcohol-exposed adolescents with novel, unexposed rats can reverse some of the epigenetic changes caused by alcohol (Middleton et al., 2012). Specifically, the alcohol-induced expression of genes that code miRNAs related to the cell cycle and apoptosis was reversed following adolescent exposure to social novelty. Similarly, adolescent social enrichment increased oxytocin binding and exploratory behavior in offspring cared for by less nurturing mothers (Champagne and Meaney, 2007). Interestingly, these effects were shown to have multigenerational consequences.
