The high levels of alcohol consumption characteristic of adolescence may be in part biologically based, given that elevated consumption levels are evident during this developmental transition in other mammalian species as well. Studies conducted using a simple animal model of adolescence in the rat have shown adolescents to be more sensitive than adults to social facilitatory and rewarding effects of alcohol but less sensitive to numerous alcohol effects that may serve as cues to limit intake. These age-specific alcohol sensitivities appear related to differential rates of development of neural systems underlying different alcohol effects, as well as to an ontogenetic decline in rapid brain compensations to alcohol, termed acute tolerance. In contrast, these adolescent-typical sensitivities to alcohol do not appear to be notably influenced by pubertal increases in gonadal hormones. Although data are sparse, there are hints that similar alcohol sensitivities may be seen in human adolescents, with this developmentally decreased sensitivity to alcohol’s intoxicating effects possibly exacerbated by genetic vulnerabilities also characterized by an insensitivity to alcohol intoxication, thereby perhaps permitting especially high levels of alcohol consumption among vulnerable youths.
AchesonS. K.SteinR. M.SwartzwelderH. S. (1998). Impairment of semantic and figural memory by acute ethanol: Age-dependent effects. Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, 22, 1437–1442.
2.
AndersenS. L.ThompsonA. P.KrenzelE.TeicherM. H. (2002). Pubertal changes in gonadal hormones do not underlie adolescent dopamine receptor overproduction. Pyschoneuroendocrinology, 27, 683–691.
3.
BeharD.BergC. J.RapoportJ. L.NelsonW.LinnoilaM.CohenM.. . . MarshallT. (1983). Behavioral and physiological effects of ethanol in high-risk and control children: A pilot study. Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, 7, 404–410.
4.
BrenhouseH. C.AndersenS. L. (2008). Delayed extinction and stronger reinstatement of cocaine conditioned place preference in adolescent rats, compared to adults. Behavioral Neuroscience, 122, 460–465.
5.
CaseyB. J.JonesR. M. (2010). Neurobiology of the adolescent brain and behavior: Implications for substance use disorders. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 49, 1189–1201.
6.
CelioM. A.Vetter-O’HagenC. S.LismanS. A.JohansenG. E.SpearL. P. (2011). Integrating field methodology and web-based data collection to assess the reliability of the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT). Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 119, 142–144.
7.
ClarkD. B.ThatcherD. L.TapertS. F. (2008). Alcohol, psychological dysregulation, and adolescent brain development. Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, 32, 375– 385.
8.
DoremusT. L.BrunellS. C.RajendranP.SpearL. P. (2005). Factors influencing elevated ethanol consumption in adolescent relative to adult rats. Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, 29, 1796–1808.
9.
GrantB. F.DawsonD. A. (1998). Age at onset of alcohol use and its association with DSM–IV alcohol abuse and dependence: Results from the National Longitudinal Alcohol Epidemiologic Survey. Journal of Substance Abuse, 10, 163–173.
10.
GreenA. S.GrahameN. J. (2008). Ethanol drinking in rodents: Is free-choice drinking related to the reinforcing effects of ethanol?Alcohol, 42, 1–11.
11.
InfurnaR. N.SpearL. P. (1979). Developmental changes in amphetamine-induced taste aversions. Pharmacology Biochemistry & Behavior, 11, 31–35.
12.
JohnstonL. D.O’MalleyP. M.BachmanJ. G.SchulenbergJ. E. (2008, April). Monitoring the future: National results on adolescent drug use: Overview of key findings, 2007 (NIH Publication No. 08-6418). Retrieved from http://monitoringthefuture.org/pubs/monographs/overview2007.pdf
13.
KellyA.ChanG.ToumbourouJ.O’FlahertyM.HomelR.PattonG.WilliamsJ. (2012). Very young adolescents and alcohol: Evidence of a unique susceptibility to peer alcohol use. Addictive Behaviors, 37, 414–419.
14.
KnollJ.MiklyaI.KnollB.DallóJ. (2000). Sexual hormones terminate in the rat: The significantly enhanced catecholaminergic/serotonergic tone in the brain characteristic to the post-weaning period. Life Sciences, 67, 765–773.
15.
LittleP. J.KuhnC. M.WilsonW. A.SwartzwelderH. S. (1996). Differential effects of ethanol in adolescent and adult rats. Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, 20, 1346–1351.
16.
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. (2004–2005). Alcohol and development in youth—A multidisciplinary overview. Alcohol Research & Health, 28(3), 107–176. Retrieved from http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/arh283/toc28-3.htm
17.
PautassiR. M.MyersM.SpearL. P.MolinaJ. C.SpearN. E. (2008). Adolescent, but not adult, rats exhibit ethanol-mediated appetitive second-order conditioning. Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, 32, 1–12.
18.
RistucciaR. C.SpearL. P. (2008). Adolescent and adult heart rate responses to self-administered ethanol. Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, 32, 1–9.
19.
SchuckitM. A. (1994). Low level of response to alcohol as a predictor of future alcoholism. American Journal of Psychiatry, 151, 184–189.
20.
ShramM. J.FunkD.LiX.LeA. D. (2006). Periadolescent and adult rats respond differently in tests measuring the rewarding and aversive effects of nicotine. Psychopharmacology, 186, 201–208.
21.
SilveriM. M.SpearL. P. (1998). Decreased sensitivity to the hypnotic effects of ethanol early in ontogeny. Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, 22, 670–676.
22.
SilveriM. M.SpearL. P. (2001). Acute, rapid and chronic tolerance during ontogeny: Observations when equating ethanol perturbation across age. Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, 25, 1301–1308.
23.
SilveriM. M.SpearL. P. (2002). The effects of NMDA and GABAA pharmacological manipulations on ethanol sensitivity in immature and mature animals. Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, 26, 449–456.
24.
SilveriM. M.SpearL. P. (2004). The effects of NMDA and GABAA pharmacological manipulations on acute and rapid tolerance to ethanol during ontogeny. Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, 28, 884–894.
25.
SiskC. L.ZehrJ. L. (2005). Pubertal hormones organize the adolescent brain and behavior. Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology, 26, 163–174.
26.
SpearL. P (2010). The behavioral neuroscience of adolescence. New York, NY: Norton.
27.
SpearL. P. (2011a). Adolescent neurobehavioral characteristics, alcohol sensitivities and intake: Setting the stage for alcohol use disorder?Child Development Perspectives, 5, 231–238.
28.
SpearL. P. (2011b). Rewards, aversions and affect in adolescence: Emerging convergences across laboratory animal and human data. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, 1, 390–403.
29.
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2006). Results from the 2005 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: National findings (National Survey on Drug Use and Health Series H-3, DDHS Publication No. SMA 06-4194). Retrieved from http://www.samhsa.gov/data/nsduh/2k5nsduh/2k5results.pdf
30.
VarlinskayaE. I.SpearL. P. (2002). Acute effects of ethanol on social behavior of adolescent and adult rats: Role of familiarity of the test situation. Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, 26, 1502–1511.
31.
VarlinskayaE. I.SpearL. P. (2004). Acute ethanol withdrawal (hangover) and social behavior in adolescent and adult male and female Sprague-Dawley rats. Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, 28, 40–50.
32.
VarlinskayaE. I.SpearL. P. (2006). Ontogeny of acute tolerance to ethanol-induced social inhibition in Sprague-Dawley rats. Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, 30, 1833–1844.
33.
VarlinskayaE. I.SpearL. P. (2009). Ethanol-induced social facilitation in adolescent rats: Role of endogenous activity at mu opioid receptors. Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, 33, 991–1000.
34.
Vetter-O’HagenC. S.SandersK. W.SpearL. P. (2011). Evidence for suppressant effects of testosterone on sex-typical ethanol intake in male Sprague-Dawley rats. Behavioural Brain Research, 224, 403–407.
35.
Vetter-O’HagenC. S.SpearL. P. (2011). The effects of gonadectomy on age- and sex-typical patterns of ethanol consumption in Sprague-Dawley rats. Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, 35, 1–11.
36.
Vetter-O’HagenC. S.SpearL. P. (2012). The effects of gonadectomy on sex- and age-typical responses to novelty and ethanol-induced social inhibition in adult male and female Sprague-Dawley rats. Behavioural Brain Research, 227, 224–232.
37.
Vetter-O’HagenC.VarlinskayaE. I.SpearL. (2009). Sex differences in ethanol intake and sensitivity to aversive effects during adolescence and adulthood. Alcohol and Alcoholism, 44, 547–554.
38.
WhiteA. M.SwartzwelderH. S. (2005). Age-related effects of alcohol on memory and memory-related brain function in adolescents and adults. In GalanterM. (Ed.), Recent developments in alcoholism, volume 17: Alcohol problems in adolescents and young adults (pp. 161–176). New York, NY: Kluwer Academic.
39.
WilmouthC. E.SpearL. P. (2004). Adolescent and adult rats’ aversion to flavors previously paired with nicotine. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1021, 462–464.
40.
WilmouthC. E.SpearL. P. (2009). Hedonic sensitivity in adolescent and adult rats: Taste reactivity and voluntary sucrose consumption. Pharmacology, Biochemistry & Behavior, 92, 566–573.
