Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) are characterized by deficits in working memory, response inhibition, and behavioral flexibility. However, the combination and severity of impairments are highly dependent upon maternal ethanol consumption patterns, which creates a complex variety of manifestations. Rodent models have been essential in identifying behavioral endpoints of prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE). However, experimental model outcomes are extremely diverse based on level, pattern, timing, and method of ethanol exposure, as well as the behavioral domain assayed and paradigm used. Therefore, comparisons across studies are difficult and there is currently no clear comprehensive behavioral phenotype of PAE. This lack of defined cognitive and behavioral phenotype is a contributing factor to the difficulty in identifying FASD individuals. The current review aims to critically examine preclinical behavioral outcomes in the social, cognitive, and affective domains in terms of the PAE paradigm, with a special emphasis on dose, timing, and delivery, to establish a working model of behavioral impairment. In addition, this review identifies gaps in our current knowledge and proposes future areas of research that will advance knowledge in the field of PAE outcomes. Understanding the complex behavioral phenotype, which results from diverse ethanol consumption will allow for development of better diagnostic tools and more critical evaluation of potential treatments for FASD.

Behavioral inflexibility is a common symptom of neuropsychiatric disorders which can have a major detrimental impact on quality of life. While the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) has been strongly implicated in behavioral flexibility in rodents across paradigms, our understanding of how the OFC mediates these behaviors is rapidly adapting. Here we examined neuronal activity during reversal learning by coupling in vivo electrophysiological recording with a mouse touch-screen learning paradigm to further elucidate the role of the OFC in updating reward value. Single unit and oscillatory activity was recorded during well-learned discrimination and 3 distinct phases of reversal (early, chance and well-learned). During touch-screen performance, OFC neuronal firing tracked rewarded responses following a previous rewarded choice when behavior was well learned, but shifted to primarily track repeated errors following a previous error in early reversal. Spike activity tracked rewarded choices independent of previous trial outcome during chance reversal, and returned to the initial pattern of reward response at criterion. Analysis of spike coupling to oscillatory local field potentials showed that less frequently occurring behaviors had significantly fewer neurons locked to any oscillatory frequency. Together, these data support the role of the OFC in tracking the value of individual choices to inform future responses and suggest that oscillatory signaling may be involved in propagating responses to increase or decrease the likelihood that action is taken in the future. They further support the use of touch-screen paradigms in preclinical studies to more closely model clinical approaches to measuring behavioral flexibility.

Background Despite evidence that prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) can lead to a wide range of impairments in cognitive, social and emotional behaviors, drinking during pregnancy remains common. Although there is a general understanding that high levels of drinking during pregnancy are unsafe, conflicting evidence regarding the impact of low intake may account for the persistence of this behavior. Methods In order to investigate the effects of PAE on learning and executive control we utilized a voluntary paradigm where pregnant mice had access to a saccharin sweetened 10% alcohol solution for 4 hours, during the dark cycle, throughout gestation. Male and female offspring were tested as adults on a touch-screen discrimination and reversal task mediated by corticostriatal circuits. Results Consistent with previous findings, PAE did not lead to gross morphological, motor or sensory alterations in offspring. Both PAE and saccharin control female mice were slower to acquire the discrimination than males, but PAE did not impair associative learning in either sex. During reversal, PAE led to a specific and significant impairment in the early phase, where cortical control is most required to flexibly alter choice behavior. PAE mice showed a significant increase in maladaptive perseverative responses but showed intact learning of the new association during late reversal. Conclusions Previously, data from clinical studies have suggested that executive control deficits may underlie cognitive, as well as social, problems seen in adolescents with documented PAE. These data demonstrate that even more moderate alcohol exposure during development can lead to impaired cognitive functioning well into adulthood.

Despite making up only a minor fraction of the total cellular glutathione, recent studies indicate that the mitochondrial glutathione pool is essential for cell survival. Selective depletion of mitochondrial glutathione is sufficient to sensitize cells to mitochondrial oxidative stress (MOS)1 and intrinsic apoptosis. Glutathione is synthesized exclusively in the cytoplasm and must be actively transported into mitochondria. Therefore, regulation of mitochondrial glutathione transport is a key factor in maintaining the antioxidant status of mitochondria. Bcl-2 is resident in the outer mitochondrial membrane where it acts as a central regulator of the intrinsic apoptotic cascade. In addition, Bcl-2 displays an antioxidant-like function that has been linked experimentally to the regulation of cellular glutathione content. We have previously demonstrated a novel interaction between recombinant Bcl-2 and reduced glutathione (GSH) which was antagonized by either Bcl-2 homology-3 domain (BH3) mimetics or a BH3-only protein, recombinant Bim. These previous findings prompted us to investigate if this novel Bcl-2/GSH interaction might play a role in regulating mitochondrial glutathione transport. Incubation of primary cultures of cerebellar granule neurons (CGNs) with the BH3 mimetic, HA14-1, induced MOS and caused specific depletion of the mitochondrial glutathione pool. Bcl-2 was co-immunoprecipitated with GSH following chemical cross-linking in CGNs and this Bcl-2/GSH interaction was antagonized by pre-incubation with HA14-1. Moreover, both HA14-1 and recombinant Bim inhibited GSH transport into isolated rat brain mitochondria. To further investigate a possible link between Bcl-2 function and mitochondrial glutathione transport, we next examined if Bcl-2 associated with the 2-oxoglutarate carrier (OGC), an inner mitochondrial membrane protein known to transport glutathione in liver and kidney. Following co-transfection of CHO cells, Bcl-2 was co-immunoprecipitated with OGC and this novel interaction was significantly enhanced by glutathione monoethylester (GSH-MEE). Similarly, recombinant Bcl-2 interacted with recombinant OGC in the presence of GSH. Bcl-2 and OGC co-transfection in CHO cells significantly increased the mitochondrial glutathione pool. Finally, the ability of Bcl-2 to protect CHO cells from apoptosis induced by hydrogen peroxide was significantly attenuated by the OGC inhibitor phenylsuccinate. These data suggest that GSH binding by Bcl-2 enhances its affinity for the OGC. Bcl-2 and OGC appear to act in a coordinated manner to increase the mitochondrial glutathione pool and enhance resistance of cells to oxidative stress. We conclude that regulation of mitochondrial glutathione transport is a principal mechanism by which Bcl-2 suppresses MOS.