Adult rat's offspring of alcoholic mothers are impaired on spatial learning and object recognition in the Can test

The aim of this study was to examine spatial and object recognition reference and working memory in adult offspring of Wistar rats exposed to ethanol in prenatal and/or preweaning period. For this purpose, four different conditions of the Can test were performed sequentially: spatial/object discrimination task, spatial orientation task, simple object recognition task and complex object recognition task. The results of present study shows: (1) the significant impairment in spatial learning and object recognition in animals exposed to alcohol during prenatal and/or preweaning period, (2) that cognitive dysfunction become increasingly evident with switching from simple to more sophisticated task, (3) that the most vulnerable period is the early neonatal period which corresponds to the third trimester gestational development in humans and (4) that during the developmental period, abrupt introduction or withdrawal of ethanol, rather than its continuous consumption, can produce higher cognitive deficit later on. In conclusion, moderate ethanol exposure during brain development produce long lasting impairment of spatial and recognition reference and working memory in adult rat's offspring and these effects depend on the developmental period in which they were exposed to ethanol.