Age of exposure Species (model) Frequency of administration Structural CNS changes Behavioral, intellectual, or other effects References Prenatal Rat Chronic Reduced number of neurons and dendritic spines in the hippocampus and pyramidal tracts Memory, spatial learning [22 ] The cerebellum is most sensitive to alcohol-induced Purkinje cell loss Cerebellar disorders (ataxia, cognitive, behavioral, and affective disturbances) [23 , 24 ] Cholinergic neurons loss Spontaneous alternation, spatial working memory [25 , 26 ] Human Chronic Reduction in gray and white matter in the hippocampus, amygdala, thalamus, caudate, putamen, and globus pallidus Cognitive, behavioral, and neurological impairments [27 , 28 ] Young Human Chronic Reduced white matter, corpus callosum, and hippocampal volumes Impairment in neurocognitive tests, including those measuring memory, attention, visuospatial skills, and executive function [29 , 30 ] Reduced oxygen consumption in the subcallosal, anterior cingulate, left prefrontal, and bilateral insular regions Dysfunction during spatial working memory and simple motor tasks [31 , 32 ] Adult Human Chronic Reduced volume in the diencephalon, cerebral cortex, hippocampus, and white matter Progressive cognitive dysfunction and loss of neural plasticity due to reduced GABAergic inhibition and increased glutamatergic excitation [33 ] Rat Chronic Corpus callosum ultrastructure Cognitive and motor function [34 ] Human Chronic Frontal and temporal lobes Attention, impulsivity, verbal memory, and impaired cognition [35 , 36 ] Human or monkey Chronic Hypothalamus D3 and 5HT Alcohol dependency [37 , 38 ] Human Chronic Nucleus basalis Meynert Loss cognitive disorders and dementia [39 –42 ] Cerebellar atrophy, Purkinje cell loss Wernicke's encephalopathy, cognitive and emotional dysfunction [43 , 44 ] Peripheral nerves stimulation Withdrawal-induced hyperalgesia [45 ] Hemorrhage in the ventral diencephalon, mesencephalon, and Basal ganglia, and severe white matter edema in the cerebral hemispheres and pontine nuclei and medullary tegmental Cognitive impairment, necrosis, and death[46 , 47 ]
