Effects of Alcohol on the Brain across the Lifespan

Dr. C. Fernando Valenzuela is a Regents' Professor of Neurosciences at the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center and is the Director of the New Mexico Alcohol Research Center. He earned his M.D. with honors from the Colombian School of Medicine (Universidad El Bosque) and later obtained his Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences at the University of California, Riverside, under the mentorship of Dr. David A. Johnson. Following this, he completed postdoctoral training in Dr. Adron Harris's laboratory within the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver. Dr. Valenzuela's research primarily explores the effects of alcohol on synaptic transmission and plasticity during brain development, with a particular focus on how alcohol influences the maturation of neuronal circuits.

Dr. David L. Linsenbardt is an Assistant Professor of Neurosciences at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine and Health Sciences Center. He earned his Ph.D. from Indiana University - Purdue University Indianapolis in Addiction Neuroscience under the mentorship of Dr. Stephen Boehm. He then completed postdoctoral training in the laboratory of Dr. Christopher Lapish in the same Department. Dr. Linsenbardt's research primarily explores the effects of alcohol on neurobehavioral function, with an emphasis on the motivating attributes of alcohol that lead to binge and high-intensity alcohol drinking, as well as the consequences of excessive alcohol drinking throughout the lifespan.

Dr. Jeffrey L. Weiner is a Professor in the Department of Translational Neuroscience at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine. He is also the Director of the NIAAA-supported Wake Forest Translational Alcohol Research Center and the inaugural institutional Faculty Ombuds. He pursued his academic training at the University of Toronto, completing a B.S. in Neuroscience, an M.S. in Pharmacology, and a Ph.D. in Pharmacology working with Dr. Peter L. Carlen. He then completed a postdoctoral fellowship with Dr. Thomas V. Dunwiddie in the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver. Dr. Weiner's laboratory uses rodent models and an integration of behavioral and neurobiological approaches to elucidate the circuit mechanisms underlying vulnerability and resilience to alcohol use disorder.    

Part I. Effects of Alcohol on the Fetal Brain.- Chapter 1. Defects of Cortical Microcircuits Following Early Exposure to Alcohol.- Chapter 2. Ontogenetic Neuroimmune Changes Following Prenatal Alcohol Exposure: Implications for Neurobehavioral Function.- Chapter 3. The Neurobiology of Learning and Memory in Rodent Models of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders.- Chapter 4. Impact of Developmental Alcohol Exposure on the Thalamus.- Chapter 5. Adult Hippocampal Neurogenesis as a Therapeutic Target in Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder.- Chapter 6. Impact of Developmental Alcohol Exposure on Sleep Physiology.- Chapter 7. Recent Advances in the Role of Non-coding RNAs in Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders.- Part II. Effects of Alcohol on the Adolescent Brain.- Chapter 8. Alcohol Dysregulation of Developing Cortical GABA Circuits.- Chapter 9. Impact of Neuroimmune System Activation by Adolescent Binge Alcohol Exposure on Adult Neurobiology.- Chapter 10. Excessive Alcohol Use as a Risk Factor for Alzheimer's Disease: Epidemiology and Preclinical Evidence.- Chapter 11. Recent Investigations Designed to Unravel the Interaction of Age and Alcohol on Behavior, Cognition, and Potential Neurobiological Mechanisms.- Part III. Effects of Alcohol on Aging.- Chapter 12. Adolescent Alcohol and the Spectrum of Cognitive Dysfunction in Aging.- Chapter 13. Changes in the Properties of Ethanol-Sensitive Molecular Targets during Maturation and Aging.