Patterns of neuronal activation following ethanol-induced social facilitation and social inhibition in adolescent cFos-LacZ male and female rats.

A preprint abstract discusses a study on the effects of alcohol on social behavior and neural activity in adolescent rats. The study found that motives related to the positive effects of alcohol on social activity are strongly associated with alcohol use disorder and contribute to adolescent alcohol use. The researchers used cFos-LacZ transgenic rats to evaluate behavior and neural activity in male and female subjects that differed in their response to ethanol. The results showed that both males and females facilitated by ethanol displayed lower social activity in the absence of ethanol compared to socially inhibited subjects. The study also found sex differences in neural activity and functional network construction in response to ethanol. However, hub analyses revealed similar brain regions in males and females that contribute to social facilitation or inhibition from ethanol. [Extracted from the article]