# DEFICIENT RESPONSE INHIBITION AND CORTICAL ALTERATIONS AFTER PRENATAL ALCOHOL EXPOSURE IN THE MOUSE

> **NIH NIH P50** · UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO HEALTH SCIS CTR · 2020 · $236,457

## Abstract

Abstract
A common feature in Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) is an inability to focus attention appropriately
and inhibit responding to stimuli that are similar to, but distinct from, those that reliably lead to positive
outcomes. Continuous performance tasks have been used to measure both attention and response inhibition in
human subjects and the Five Choice Continuous Performance task (5C-CPT) was developed to examine these
processes in an analogous manner in rodents. Together with our collaborators, we have recently validated this
task behaviorally in mice and human subjects and our current data shows that the 5C-CPT recruits similar
EEG signal from frontal and parietal cortex in rodents and healthy human subjects. Here, we propose to test
whether moderate ethanol exposure during the first and second trimester equivalents impairs attention and
response inhibition on the touch-screen 5C-CPT. Next, we will perform simultaneous EEG-like dura-resting
local field potential (LFP) and depth recording of frontal and parietal cortex to examine whether moderate PAE
significantly alters frontal and parietal signaling, and if this signaling is related to alteration in neuronal firing
pattern or timing. The combination of these approaches will allow us to look at both individual unit firing and
regional activity and compare it to a clinically relevant measure of brain activity. Finally, given evidence that
LFP oscillatory signaling is controlled by the activity of fast-spiking parvalbumin positive (FS-PV+)
interneurons, we will perform targeted in vivo recording of FS-PV+ neurons, immunohistochemistry and ex vivo
electrophysiology to examine whether deficits in cognitive control are mediated by alterations in interneuron
number and excitatory tone. Our hypothesis is that PAE leads to inappropriate parietal oscillatory tone via loss
of interneuron signaling, with the overall outcome being impaired cognitive control. Taken together, the
completion of these aims will allow us to better understand the mechanisms of the long-lasting impairments in
cognitive control seen in FASD and provide targets for more effective therapies for executive dysfunction.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9980243
- **Project number:** 5P50AA022534-07
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO HEALTH SCIS CTR
- **Principal Investigator:** Jonathan L Brigman
- **Activity code:** P50 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $236,457
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** — → —

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9980243

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9980243, DEFICIENT RESPONSE INHIBITION AND CORTICAL ALTERATIONS AFTER PRENATAL ALCOHOL EXPOSURE IN THE MOUSE (5P50AA022534-07). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9980243. Licensed CC0.

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