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About the Authors:
Mary-Louise Risher
Affiliations Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina, United States of America, Neurobiology Research Laboratory, Durham Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina, United States of America
Rebekah L. Fleming
Affiliations Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina, United States of America, Neurobiology Research Laboratory, Durham Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina, United States of America
Nathalie Boutros
Affiliation: University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, United States of America
Svetlana Semenova
Affiliation: University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, United States of America
Wilkie A. Wilson
Affiliation: Social Sciences Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, United States of America
Edward D. Levin
Affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina, United States of America
Athina Markou
Affiliation: University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, United States of America
H. Scott Swartzwelder
Affiliations Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina, United States of America, Neurobiology Research Laboratory, Durham Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina, United States of America
Shawn K. Acheson
* E-mail: [email protected]
Affiliations Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina, United States of America, Neurobiology Research Laboratory, Durham Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina, United States of America
Introduction
Adolescence is a critical period for synaptic pruning and refinement across neocortical and non-neocortical regions (e.g., hippocampus). This process occurs throughout adolescence and continues into young adulthood [1]–[4]. Prolonged maturation in areas required for complex cognitive processes may be responsible for the limited planning, foresight and impulse control commonly observed among adolescents [5]. Deficits in these cognitive functions may also lead to increased novelty- and sensation-seeking [6]. Importantly, ethanol (EtOH) consumption is often initiated and occurs at its highest levels during adolescence and young adulthood [7]. These phenomena can coalesce, resulting in an escalation of risky behavior and the onset of alcohol use disorders (AUD) [8]–[10], which can adversely affect an individual's development into adulthood. As a result, a thorough understanding of the effects of ethanol during this developmental window is of great importance.
It is well established that acute EtOH consumption...