Animal models have also been critical in resolving the explicit impact of chronic alcohol on the functionality of the hippocampus. Similar to the studies in animal models of alcohol dependence, which replicated the PFC impairments observed in humans, studies in animals exposed to translationally relevant models of chronic alcohol exposure have reproduced and expanded on the findings from human subjects. These studies have resulted in numerous structural and functional abnormalities of the rodent hippocampus similar to those seen in human studies. For example, studies in rodents employing forced chronic consumption demonstrate long-term exposures to alcohol resulted in extensive impairment in spatial memory (117–122). Unfortunately, behavioral disparities in these preclinical models have been limited to the spatial and contextual processing functions of the hippocampus with no reference to the temporal discrimination role of this structure. Nevertheless, it is clear that chronic alcohol exposure critically impairs hippocampal function in preclinical models similar to those previously discussed in clinical settings, although there remain unanswered questions in this field with regard to the complete profile of hippocampal cognitive impairments. The remainder of the review
