One of the most consistent, translational findings made with structural MRI in alcohol-exposed rodents is ventricular enlargement, which has been found to be influenced by both timing and method of alcohol exposure. Rats that achieve binge-like BALs via gavage feeding show a larger effect (Zahr et al., 2010; Zahr, Mayer, Rohlfing, Hsu, et al., 2014; Zahr et al., 2013) than rats exposed to ethanol chronically via vapor (Pfefferbaum et al., 2008). The effect on ventricle size is transient in the binge models as ventricular volume recovers rapidly within one week of abstinence, contrary to the findings from human research (Sullivan & Pfefferbaum, 2009; Zahr & Pfefferbaum, 2017; Zahr, Rohlfing, et al., 2016). Still other studies have found that rats exposed to ethanol vapor during adolescence show persistent ventricular increases and deficits in hippocampal volume into adulthood (Ehlers, Liu, Wills, & Crews, 2013; Gass et al., 2014), while mice exposed to alcohol during adolescence (postnatal day 28 to 37) develop persisting brain-volume deficits (as measured on postnatal day 60) in the olfactory bulb and basal forebrain (Coleman, He, Lee, Styner, & Crews, 2011; Coleman, Liu, Oguz, Styner, & Crews, 2014).
