Transcranial alternating current stimulation reverses adolescent alcohol-induced cellular and behavioral deficits.

Active mPFC-targeted gamma tACS reverses adolescent intermittent ethanol–induced reductions in PV+ interneuron counts in the prelimbic cortex of Sprague Dawley rats.

• Why it matters: Adolescent binge-like alcohol exposure can leave persistent cognitive impairments, and prior findings implicated PV+ interneuron loss and PNN changes in cognition-relevant regions.
• What they did: Sprague Dawley rats (N=139, 50% female) received adolescent intermittent ethanol or control exposure, then Active or Sham mPFC-targeted gamma tACS for three consecutive days; PV+ and PNN were measured in adulthood and cognition was tested with the novel object recognition task.
• The result: AIE reduced recognition memory one week after stimulation and this deficit was ameliorated by active tACS, while AIE did not alter PNN measures and active tACS also decreased anxiety-like behavior in the open-field test.

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