Use of pup in a cup model to study brain development.

The pup in a cup artificial rearing procedure allows for experimental manipulation of brain development during the early postnatal brain growth spurt in the rat that coincides with that of the human third trimester. The technique has been used to demonstrate temporal windows of vulnerability to alcohol; the brain appears to be vulnerable to alcohol after most of the neuronal populations have been generated and are starting to differentiate. Alcohol exposure via gastrostomy feeding tubes during the third trimester equivalent results in alterations in neuronal circuitry and deficits in neuronal populations. Some of the alterations are permanent. Importantly, studies incorporating artificial rearing of rat pups have demonstrated that the pattern of alcohol exposure is a critical factor for inducing alcohol-related brain damage; brain damage is increased with peak blood alcohol concentrations.