# Rhythms of Hippocampal Function and Memory Deficits After Moderate Prenatal Alcohol Exposure

> **NIH NIH F31** · UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO · 2024 · $38,418

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders involve morphologic and neurobiological abnormalities in offspring
subjected to prenatal alcohol exposure. Although not as well studied as high exposure, moderate prenatal
alcohol exposure represents the most common and undetected form in humans. While learning and memory
deficits have been well characterized at the behavioral level in humans with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders
and in animal models of moderate prenatal alcohol exposure, few studies have determined the circuit or
systems level mechanisms. A complete understanding of the neural bases of memory deficits after moderate
prenatal alcohol exposure is needed to ultimately identify treatments that may mitigate impacts later in life. In
our previous work, we determined that rats with moderate prenatal alcohol exposure are significantly impaired
in learning a task that requires the acquisition of an association between an object and its spatial location,
called the object-place paired-associate task. Previous studies have demonstrated that disruption to the
hippocampus impairs object-place associations. The hippocampal involvement in object-place learning and
memory is critically dependent on synchronized rhythmic activity of hippocampal cell populations occurring at
slow and fast frequencies. During active behavior, hippocampal cell activity can be organized by coupling
between a slow rhythm called theta and a fast rhythm called gamma. During immobility, hippocampal neural
activity is organized within a fast rhythm called a sharp wave-ripple. Theta-gamma coupling, and the
expression of sharp wave-ripples, are thought to have a critical role in the encoding and consolidation of
hippocampal dependent memories, respectively. Whether moderate prenatal alcohol exposure disrupts
hippocampal theta-gamma coupling or characteristics of hippocampal sharp wave-ripples during performance
of a learning and memory task has not been experimentally investigated. In two specific aims, we will test the
hypotheses that impaired learning and memory after moderate prenatal alcohol exposure is associated with
uncoupling of hippocampal theta-gamma rhythms and a disruption in the sharp wave-ripples characteristics
and that these alterations to hippocampal rhythmic activity are associated with impairments in object-place
learning and memory. The aims of this proposal will significantly advance our understanding of the
neurobiological mechanisms of learning and memory deficits after moderate prenatal alcohol exposure.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10898802
- **Project number:** 5F31AA030711-03
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO
- **Principal Investigator:** Lilliana May Sanchez
- **Activity code:** F31 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $38,418
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2022-09-30 → 2025-09-29

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10898802

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10898802, Rhythms of Hippocampal Function and Memory Deficits After Moderate Prenatal Alcohol Exposure (5F31AA030711-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10898802. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*