Chronic Ethanol Exposure During Adolescence Increases Basal Dopamine in the Nucleus Accumbens Septi During Adulthood

Online Early Articles
28 March 2007

In humans, adolescent exposure to alcohol is associated with the onset of adult alcohol dependency and suggests that early use potentiates vulnerability to addiction.

The aim of the present study was to address whether chronic ethanol exposure during adolescence would alter nucleus accumbens septi (NAcc) dopamine (DA) levels in the adult brain.

Together these findings suggest that changes in extracellular DA may be an underlying physiological mechanism in adolescent vulnerability to the rewarding properties of ethanol.

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