HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 93/3/1317    most recent 00714.2004v1 Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in ISI Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (7) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Medina, A. E. Articles by Ramoa, A. S. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Medina, A. E. Articles by Ramoa, A. S.

Early Alcohol Exposure Induces Persistent Alteration of Cortical Columnar Organization and Reduced Orientation Selectivity in the Visual Cortex

Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center, Richmond, Virginia

Submitted 12 July 2004; accepted in final form 9 October 2004

Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) is a major cause of learning and sensory deficits in children. The visual system in particular is markedly affected, with an elevated prevalence of poor visual perceptual skills. Developmental problems involving the neocortex are likely to make a major contribution to some of these abnormalities. Neuronal selectivity to stimulus orientation, a functional property thought to be crucial for normal vision, may be especially vulnerable to alcohol exposure because it starts developing even before eye opening. To address this issue, we examined the effects of early alcohol exposure on development of cortical neuron orientation selectivity and organization of cortical orientation columns. Ferrets were exposed to ethanol starting at postnatal day (P) 10, when the functional properties and connectivity of neocortical neurons start to develop. Alcohol exposure ended at P30, just before eye opening at P32. Following a prolonged alcohol-free period (15–35 days), long-term effects of early alcohol exposure on cortical orientation selectivity were examined at P48–P65, when orientation selectivity in normal ferret cortex has reached a mature state. Optical imaging of intrinsic signals revealed decreased contrast of orientation maps in alcohol- but not saline-treated animals. Moreover, single-unit recordings revealed that early alcohol treatment weakened neuronal orientation selectivity while preserving robust visual responses. These findings indicate that alcohol exposure during a brief period of development disrupts cortical processing of sensory information at a later age and suggest a neurobiological substrate for some types of sensory deficits in FAS.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				K. N. Bishop, J. R. McClung, S. J. Goldberg, and M. S. Shall Anatomic and physiological characteristics of the ferret lateral rectus muscle and abducens nucleus J Appl Physiol, November 1, 2007; 103(5): 1706 - 1714. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				C.-T. Wang, A. G. Blankenship, A. Anishchenko, J. Elstrott, M. Fikhman, S. Nakanishi, and M. B. Feller GABAA Receptor-Mediated Signaling Alters the Structure of Spontaneous Activity in the Developing Retina J. Neurosci., August 22, 2007; 27(34): 9130 - 9140. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]