Ethanol exposure during a period equivalent to all three trimesters in the human (Bayer et al., 1993) significantly impacted dendritic morphology in mPFC and had no impact on dendritic morphology or cell number in the NAC. Both basilar and apical spine densities were reduced by ethanol exposure during development in mPFC. The distribution of apical spines was also changed with reductions in numbers in the neuronal regions between 0 and 50 and also 50 and 100 μm from the soma in the ET group compared to both control groups but not in other regions. Other measures of dendritic integrity, including branching patterns and overall length, were unaffected by ethanol treatment in the mPFC. In addition, ethanol exposure during development resulted in a significant increase in cell body size in the mPFC compared to non-treated controls only.
