AR-News: (NY) Rat/alcohol experiments at Binghamton Univ.

[Ronda Roaring]

 You drunken rat! Researchers look to rodents for clues in BU youth alcohol abuse studyBY RION A. SCOTT
Press & Sun-Bulletin 

VESTAL -- You could say the rats in Elena Varlinskaya's laboratory are heavy drinkers. 
 
  Binghamton University professor Elena Varlinskaya watches laboratory rats interact in a container in her BU lab. Varlinskaya and a team of researchers are studying the effects of alcohol in adolescent rats to gauge the effects of alcohol in adolescent humans.WAYNE HANSEN / Press & Sun-Bulletin

They don't stumble from State Street bars, tell obnoxious jokes while downing Heinekens, or sit in circles discussing how their chemical dependency began, but Varlinskaya, a Binghamton University researcher, is betting she can learn a few things from their drunkenness. 
By feeding adolescent rats doses of alcohol, Varlinskaya hopes she will be able to gauge the effects of alcohol abuse on adolescent humans. Working with a team of researchers and a five-year $1.1 million grant from the National Institutes of Health, Varlinskaya observes the social interactions of rats under the influence to determine what causes alcohol abuse in young people. 
"It is a problem young people drink," Varlinskaya said. "Why is it such a problem? We know young people become dependent on alcohol in a relatively short time compared to adults." 
Youth alcohol abuse, as tracked by one national study, is consistently an issue. More than three-quarters of high school seniors have reported using alcohol in every year since 1991, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. More than half of the seniors surveyed reported having been drunk. 
People drink to facilitate social interaction and for stress relief, Varlinskaya said. She looks at both of those areas in her research on rats. 
While adolescent alcohol abuse is widespread, researchers don't know much about the effect of the drug on young minds. Since it's unethical for a researcher to give young people even small doses of alcohol, most of what scientists know about alcohol's effects on young people comes from surveys, Varlinskaya said. 
"You can't set up an experiment and have some kids drink and some kids not drink," said Linda Spear, a distinguished professor in psychology who works with Varlinskaya. "Those types of questions we can answer in animal models and we are." 
It turns out adolescent rats and adolescent humans have a lot in common, including behavioral characteristics and hormonal interactions within the brain. They both are social animals who spend much of their time interacting with peers. 
When adolescent rats are injected with a dose of alcohol, one that equals more than 16 drinks, they tend to get more social. Adult rodents become withdrawn, like a crank in the corner of a bar. 
When young rats are placed in new situations, open spaces and heights, they increase interaction. Older rats don't experience the same thing. 
And the negative effects of alcohol, including hangovers and motor impairment, are less pronounced in adolescent rats than adults. Adolescent rats even become social while they are recovering from alcohol's effects. 
This suggests to researchers that young people will drink more because they don't have to deal with the negative aspects of drinking as much as adults. 
"Here you got a drug that not only facilitates social interaction when they're under the influence, but it facilitates social interaction when they're recovering," Spear said. 
Adolescent rats shouldn't be quick to down a beer to relieve stress. Varlinskaya found the animals need to drink more to achieve relaxation than adult rats do. 
This suggests that adolescents who are looking to lose the day's stress over a rum and coke will have more rum and cokes than an adult in a similar situation. 
"You need more, you will drink more," Varlinskaya said. "You drink more, you will become dependent." 



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