Vulnerability to alcohol operant-drinking behaviour: implications of environmental stim

Environmental stimuli, occurring early in life, shape the drinking trajectories and the psychopathological outcome of alcohol consumption in adult life. In particular, early perinatal procedures can permanently alter various patterns of drug use and behaviour in rat adulthood (Pryce CR, 2001). Early handling (EH) apparently is responsible for neurochemical and behavioural changes in adulthood, due to boosts in maternal care after daily reunion. It has been suggested that fostered maternal care, in the form of licking and grooming, is a key feature in determining neural changes and offspring fear responses and alter the reward/reinforcement pathway through epigenetic mechanisms that likely u…