Repeated alcohol exposure during adolescence disrupted communication between astrocytes — brain cells increasingly recognised for their role in neural signalling — and synapses – tiny contact points where neurons communicate with each other – in the hippocampus, a region important for learning and memory, researchers at Marshall University’s Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine found.
The changes were still present after prolonged abstinence and were associated with altered fear-related behaviour in adulthood, researchers found in a preclinical rat model.
