Electrophysiological characterization of cerebellar neurons from adult rats exposed to ethanol during development

The purpose of this study was to investigate the spontaneous activity of mature rat cerebellar neurons that had been exposed to ethanol (EtOH) during postnatal days 4 to 10, which corresponds to the third trimester in humans. Newborn Sprague-Dawley rats were implanted with gastric feeding tubes and were artificially reared from postnatal days 4 to 10 with two different diets. The experimental group received 4.5 g/kg/day of EtOH delivered in a milk solution. Controls received similar feeding with an isocaloric supplement replacing the EtOH. Electrophysiological evaluations were performed after an EtOH-free rearing period. Although lobules IX and X of the cerebellar vermis appeared morphologically smaller in the animals neonatally exposed to EtOH, compared with controls, extracellular recordings from both Purkinje cells and Golgi interneurons in adult rats showed no differences in spontaneous activity or firing pattern between the control and EtOH-exposed animals. Similarly, excitations and inhibitions of Purkinje neuron activity evoked by parallel pathway stimulation appeared unaffected by the developmental EtOH exposure. However, we did observe a significant decrease in the proportion of Purkinje neurons generating complex spike bursts in the group exposed to EtOH neonatally. These data suggest that, although fewer Purkinje neurons may survive the brain growth spurt if exposed to EtOH during this critical period of development, those that do survive appear to function normally. The observed abnormality in complex spike production may result from EtOH effects on developing neurons in the inferior olive that give rise to the climbing fibers that cause this bursting pattern in Purkinje neurons.