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(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Mothers who drink alcohol while they're pregnant not only put their unborn baby at risk for a number of health problems, they also may be predisposing their children to grow up with an inherent attraction to alcohol.
A team of researchers from the State University of New York Upstate Medical University found rats whose mothers were fed alcohol during pregnancy are more attracted to the smell of liquor during puberty.
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"These results highlight an important relationship between fetal and adolescent experiences that appears essential to the progressive development of alcohol abuse," Steven Youngentob, Ph.D., the study's lead author, was quoted as saying.
Fetal ethanol experience is believed to train the developing sense of smell to find ethanol odor more attractive. In the study, rats unexposed to ethanol were far less likely to follow an intoxicated peer than those with gestational exposure.
Speculating on the study's implications for human alcoholism Dr. Youngentob was quoted as saying, "Within the context of at risk adolescents, prior exposure to ethanol may, among other things, worsen the consequences of alcohol-related social interaction by increasing teenagers' propensity to engage in such settings."
SOURCE: Behavioral and Brain Functions, 2009;5:3
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