Prenatal alcohol exposure alters adult expression of sexually dimorphic behaviour in the rat

McGiven et al,( Science , 224 , 896-898, 1984), found that saccharin preference was altered in adult male and female rats that had been exposed to alcohol during gestation. The sexual dimorphism normally observed in this behaviour was absent in fetal alcohol-exposed rats. The lack of dimorphism appears to result from a masculinisation of the exposed females and a feminisation of the exposed males. You can read more about the role of hormones in sexual dimorphism here ....

Because this is a fairly complex experiment we will:

  1. use the 'Separator Tool' to examine saccharine preference in male and female control and alcohol-exposed groups 'one-group-at-a-time'
  2. use the 'Overlayer Tool' to understand the differential impact of alcohol-exposure on male and female rats.

'Separator Tool'

Click on the underlined text to view the amount of saccharin consumed by:
  • female rats
  • Male rats
Notice that, in both sexes, saccharin consumption declines with increasing concentration of the artificial sweetener. You may have noticed that male rats tend to consume less at each concentration of saccharin. We will examine this difference shortly.

What is the effect of exposing rats in utero on their saccharin consumption?

    Examine saccharin consumption in
  • female rats exposed to alcohol
  • and male rats exposed to alcohol

It is clear from these results that all the experimental groups consumed the saccharin flavoured solution, and that consumption tended to decrease with increasing concentration of the artificial sweetener. But you will have noticed that there appears to be differences between the sexes and alcohol exposure exerts subtle effects on this behaviour.

Feel free to explore on your own!
Use this button pad to control the 'Separator Tool

Female Male
Control
Alcohol exposed

When you have got an 'initial feel' for these results, explore them in more detail using the 'Overlayer Tool'

'Overlayer Tool'


The Overlayer Tool allows us to build up a picture of all the experimental findings by progressively adding or removing the results from various experimental manipulations to the results graph. It is important to click on each link in the text as you read through it. If you think you have missed a link, reload the page using the 'Refresh' icon on the toolbar running across the top of the screen in Internet Explorer, or click on this link .

What is the effect of sex on saccharin consumption?

    To explore this question:
  • click on the blue underlined text to show the amount of saccharin consumed by female rats on the graph.
  • add the results for the male control rats.
Quite clearly male rats consume less of each saccharin solution.

What is the effect of alcohol exposure on saccharin consumption in female rats?

    To explore this question:
  • hide the results from the male control rats
  • add the results for female alcohol-exposed rats to the graph.
Clearly female rats that have been exposed to alcohol before birth consume less saccharin solution than non-exposed females. According to McGiven et al. the saccharin consumption of alcohol-exposed females was masculinised .
    You can examine this proposition by
  • adding the results from male control rats to the graph.
Examine the graph and you will see that there is evidence for masculinisation of female alcohol-exposed rats, particularly when they are offered the stronger saccharin solutions to drink. Moreover, even at the most preferred concentration ( 0.25% saccharin) there is a clear reduction in consumption in alcohol-exposed females compared to the control female group.

What is the effect of alcohol exposure on saccharin consumption in male rats?

According to McGiven et al. the saccharin consumption of alcohol-exposed males was feminised .

    To explore this claim:
  • remove the results for female control rats from the graph
  • remove the results for female alcohol-exposed rats
  • add results for male alcohol-exposed
Clearly, prenatal alcohol-exposure increases saccharin consumption in male rats. But is this evidence of feminization ?
    To answer this query:
  • add the female control group to the graph.
You can now see that, yes, there is evidence that the consumption of saccharin by male rats exposed to alcohol is similar to that seen in normal female rats.
Feel free to explore on your own!
Use this button pad to control the Overlayer Tool'

Female Male
Control
Alcohol exposed