Effects of Alcohol Consumption on Spatial Memory Performance and Neuron Complexity

Abstract

Alcoholic beverages have always been a common drink all around the globe. The ethanol that is contained inside these alcoholic beverages have been known to have various negative side effects to the brain if consumed excessively. Other articles have claimed a certain moderate amount of alcohol consumption could have beneficial effects on the brain, but no exact concentration limit of consumption has been elaborated to cause damage in the hippocampal area. The objective of this research is examining the effects of alcohol towards neuron complexity and spatial memory performance. Four groups of mice were used as test subjects and were given the solution pre-orally. The first group is the control group which is given water, the second group was given 5% alcohol, the third group was given 15% alcohol, and the fourth group was given commercially sold alcoholic beverage. The mice were given said solutions in the span of 30 days. Spatial memory performance is observed by how a mice scores inside a Y-maze in the span of 5 minutes after 30 days of treatment. Neuron complexity is determined by the number of intersections of dendrites and the maximum angle of neurons inside the Dentate Gyrus (DG) and Cornu Ammonis (CA) region of the hippocampus which is observed by Golgi-Cox staining, photographed with optilab and then analyzed using the ImageJ application. alcohol consumption does not have any significant effect on spatial memory performance nor neuron complexity in the hippocampal area. These findings are not significantly different than the control group, possibly because the treatment is not chronic enough to trigger a significant physiological change.