Impairment of Hebb-Williams maze performance following prolonged alcohol consumption in rats

Wistar rats consumed a liquid diet containing sustagen and ethanol for a period of 150 days. Control animals were pair-fed an identical diet except for isocaloric substitution of sucrose for ethanol. Forty-five days after the liquid diets were discontinued both groups were tested for performance on the Hebb-Williams maze. The experimental group made significantly more errors than the control group indicating that long-term ingestion of alcohol can lead to substantial impairment of problem-solving abilities in rats.