Early Life Sleep Disruption Is a Risk Factor for Increased Ethanol Drinking After Acute Footshock Stress in Prairie Voles

Early postnatal experiences are important for shaping the development of the stress response and may contribute to the later emergence of alcohol use disorders. We have previously found that early life sleep disruption impairs social development and alters GABA neurons in the brain of adult prairie voles, a socially monogamous rodent that displays natural ethanol preference in the laboratory. However, it is unclear whether these effects on social behavior are due, in part, to overall anhedonia and/or altered behavioral response to stress. To address this question, litters containing prairie vole pups were sleep disrupted by gentle cage agitation for 7 consecutive days from postnatal days (P) 14 to 21 (early life sleep disruption, or ELSD group) or allowed to sleep undisturbed (Control). Adult voles underwent a 2-bottle choice ethanol drinking procedure integrated with a single session of footshocks. Ethanol intake after footshock was measured as well as c-Fos immunoreactivity in the lateral and central amygdala. ELSD animals showed increased ethanol consumption and increased neural activity in these amygdala regions after footshock compared to control animals. There were no differences in baseline ethanol drinking prior to exposure to a stressor. These results suggest that early life sleep disruption in prairie voles does not produce anhedonia but can have long-lasting effects on stress reactivity. In addition to shaping species-typical social behavior, early life sleep may be important in the development of stress induced ethanol consumption and the activation of limbic pathways associated with stress.