Alcohol exposure before birth may quietly set the brain on a path toward risky drinking decades later.
A new study published today (February 2) in JNeurosci examines how exposure to alcohol and stress before birth can influence brain function and drinking behavior later in life. Led by Mary Schneider and Alexander Converse at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the interdisciplinary research focused on rhesus monkeys to better understand how prenatal experiences may leave lasting effects into adulthood.
Studying Alcohol, Stress, and the Dopamine System
During pregnancy, rhesus monkeys were exposed to one of three conditions. Some consumed moderate amounts of alcohol, others experienced mild stress, and a third group was exposed to both. When the offspring reached adulthood, researchers evaluated their brain chemistry, with a close look at the dopamine system, as well as how they consumed alcohol.
The results showed that both prenatal alcohol exposure and prenatal stress altered the dopamine system in adult offspring. Monkeys exposed to alcohol before birth also consumed alcohol more quickly as adults. Importantly, measurements of the dopamine system taken before the animals ever drank alcohol were able to predict how they would drink later on. This pattern mirrors findings from human research on alcohol use disorder and suggests that certain brain differences may be present even before problem drinking begins.
Brain Changes That Evolve With Drinking
As the monkeys continued to drink alcohol, researchers observed further changes in the dopamine system. These changes influenced how much alcohol each animal consumed and differed from one individual to another. The researchers propose that these personalized brain responses to alcohol may help explain how casual drinking can progress into alcohol use disorder in some individuals but not others.
Implications for Pregnancy and Human Health
According to the research team, the findings add to evidence that drinking during pregnancy can have long-term consequences by linking prenatal alcohol exposure to unhealthy drinking patterns later in life. Although the study did not find a direct connection between prenatal stress and adult drinking behavior, the authors note that prenatal stress could still affect other aspects of behavior.
The researchers also emphasize that their experimental design closely reflects how prenatal stress and alcohol exposure occur in humans. This similarity strengthens the clinical relevance of the findings and helps bridge the gap between animal research and human health.
Reference: “Prenatal Stress and Prenatal Alcohol Alter the Adult Dopamine System and Alcohol Consumption: Dopamine Drives Drinking Behavior in a Prospective Twenty-Year Longitudinal Experiment with Rhesus Macaques” by Alexander K. Converse, Elizabeth O. Ahlers, Todd E. Barnhart, Bradley T. Christian, Onofre T. DeJesus, Jonathan W. Engle, James E. Holden, Julie A. Larson, Jeffrey M. Moirano, Dhanabalan Murali, Robert J. Nickles, Leslie M. Resch, Colleen F. Moore and Mary L. Schneider, 1 February 2026, Journal of Neuroscience.
DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0717-25.2026
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