Link between teen drinking and alcohol in womb
Reported January 12, 2009
Scientists claim to have discovered a potential link between teenagers’ drinking habits and their exposure to alcohol while in their mother’s womb.
A study published in the journal Behavioural and Brain Functions found that rats whose mothers were given alcohol during pregnancy were more attracted to the smell of alcohol during puberty.
The researchers found that rats exposed during gestation found the smell of alcohol on another rat’s breath during adolescence more attractive than animals with no prior foetal exposure.
‘These results highlight an important relationship between foetal and adolescent experiences that appears essential to the progressive development of alcohol abuse,’ Professor Steven Youngentob, from the State University of New York Upstate Medical University, said.
Foetal ethanol exposure is believed to train the developing sense of smell to find ethanol odour more attractive.
The authors describe how, in both rats and humans, foetal exposure changes how the odour and flavour of ethanol are perceived.
‘Such learning may be a fundamental feature of all mammalian species because it is important (from a survival standpoint) for the pre-weanling animal to accept and be attracted to the food sources consumed by the mother,’ they write.
The study found that rats unexposed to ethanol were significantly less likely to follow an intoxicated peer than those with gestational experience.
In conclusion Professor Youngentob speculated on the study’s implications for human problem drinking.
‘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,’ he added.