Alcohol use disorders are a public health issue related to adverse effects for individuals and society. A low level of response, or decreased sensitivity, to alcohol has been identified as a heritable risk factor for development of alcohol use disorders. One method for researching level of response to alcohol is through the use of rodent models, which are developed to mimic human conditions while eliminating barriers to conducting research with people. Current rodent models used to evaluate effects of ethanol on motor performance have been criticized for not being well matched to human tasks that measure level of change in body sway after alcohol consumption. This study looks at oromotor behavior as a potential alternative to gross motor performance in hopes of increasing correspondence between human and rodent measures of intoxication. To evaluate rodent oromotor performance a force transducer lickometer is used to measure several dimensions of licking behavior after administration of different concentrations of ethanol solution via gavage. Results show that force of licking is not sensitive to dose of ethanol. The total number of licks per session show dose related decreases and licking rhythm, evaluated by the length and distribution of interlick intervals, either increased or decreased for three of the four subjects. Recommendations are made for procedural modifications in order to reduce variability in data and further investigate oromotor performance and level of response to alcohol.

<p>Rolandic epilepsy (RE) is the most common focal epilepsy syndrome in the pediatric age group with an onset between 3 and 13 years. The syndrome is defined by electro-clinically typical features and has been considered benign according to seizure remission before the age of 16 years.</p><p>The aim of this thesis was to investigate children with typical RE with different methods and to discuss the delineation of the syndrome. Thirty-eight children, aged 6–14 years, participated in one up to four studies.</p><p>Eighteen children were investigated with MRI. Hippocampal abnormalities were found in six (33%), volume asymmetry in five (28%) and high signal intensities on T2-weighted images in three (17%). Additionally, high signal intensities in T2-weighted images were revealed subcortically in temporal and frontal lobes bilaterally in five children (28%).</p><p>The hippocampal region was evaluated metabolically using proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (¹H-MRS) in 13 children with RE and 15 matched controls. A metabolic asymmetry of the hippocampal regions was found in the patients compared to controls indicating an abnormal neuronal function.</p><p>Seventeen children with RE and 17 matched controls were investigated with a neuropsychological test battery. The RE children showed lower performance in auditory-verbal tests and in executive functions compared to controls.</p><p>Twenty RE children and 24 controls were assessed concerning their oromotor function. The RE children had greater problems concerning tongue movements including articulation. A dichotic listening test was also performed in a subgroup showing poorer results in the RE group. </p><p>A simple classification is proposed with RE ‘pure’ as the main group and the frame for this study.</p><p>In conclusion, these investigations disclosed various abnormalities in children with RE, challenging the benign concept during the active phase. It is assumed that maturational factors comprise causal mechanism to the deviant findings, which probably successively will normalize.</p>

Rolandic epilepsy (RE) is the most common focal epilepsy syndrome in the pediatric age group with an onset between 3 and 13 years. The syndrome is defined by electro-clinically typical features and has been considered benign according to seizure remission before the age of 16 years. The aim of this thesis was to investigate children with typical RE with different methods and to discuss the delineation of the syndrome. Thirty-eight children, aged 6–14 years, participated in one up to four studies. Eighteen children were investigated with MRI. Hippocampal abnormalities were found in six (33%), volume asymmetry in five (28%) and high signal intensities on T2-weighted images in three (17%). Additionally, high signal intensities in T2-weighted images were revealed subcortically in temporal and frontal lobes bilaterally in five children (28%). The hippocampal region was evaluated metabolically using proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) in 13 children with RE and 15 matched controls. A metabolic asymmetry of the hippocampal regions was found in the patients compared to controls indicating an abnormal neuronal function. Seventeen children with RE and 17 matched controls were investigated with a neuropsychological test battery. The RE children showed lower performance in auditory-verbal tests and in executive functions compared to controls. Twenty RE children and 24 controls were assessed concerning their oromotor function. The RE children had greater problems concerning tongue movements including articulation. A dichotic listening test was also performed in a subgroup showing poorer results in the RE group. A simple classification is proposed with RE ‘pure’ as the main group and the frame for this study. In conclusion, these investigations disclosed various abnormalities in children with RE, challenging the benign concept during the active phase. It is assumed that maturational factors comprise causal mechanism to the deviant findings, which probably successively will normalize.