Prenatal Alcohol Exposure May Influence Adult Drinking Behavior, Study Finds - Video

A new study published in The Journal of Neuroscience suggests that exposure to alcohol before birth can quietly alter brain development and influence drinking behavior later in life. The research was led by Mary Schneider and Alexander Converse from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and examined how alcohol and stress during pregnancy affect brain function and behavior in rhesus monkeys as they reach adulthood.

In the study, pregnant rhesus monkeys were divided into different groups. Some were given moderate amounts of alcohol, some were exposed to mild stress, while others experienced both alcohol exposure and stress during pregnancy. A control group experienced neither. When the offspring grew into adults, researchers examined changes in their brain chemistry and observed their alcohol consumption patterns.

The findings showed that prenatal exposure to alcohol, as well as prenatal stress, led to long-lasting changes in the brain’s dopamine system, which plays a key role in reward, motivation, and addiction. Monkeys that were exposed to alcohol before birth drank alcohol more quickly as adults compared to those not exposed. Importantly, differences in the dopamine system were detected before the animals had ever consumed alcohol, and these early brain changes were able to predict later drinking behavior.

As the monkeys continued to drink alcohol in adulthood, further changes occurred in their dopamine systems. These changes varied from one individual to another and were linked to how much alcohol each animal consumed. Researchers suggest that these individual brain responses may help explain why some people transition from casual drinking to alcohol use disorder, while others do not.

Although prenatal stress alone was not directly linked to adult drinking behavior in this study, the researchers note that stress during pregnancy may still affect other aspects of behavior that were not measured.

Overall, the findings support existing public health guidance that discourages alcohol use during pregnancy. The researchers also emphasized that the study closely mirrors real-life patterns of prenatal alcohol exposure in humans, strengthening its relevance for understanding long-term risks to human brain health and behavior.

REFERENCE: 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, Mary L. Schneider. 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. The Journal of Neuroscience, 2026; e0717252026 DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0717-25.2026