Basal Conductance Levels of Normals and Alcoholics

Abstract

In order to examine the arousal level of alcoholics in the absence of identifiable, explicit environmental stimulation, the basal skin conductance (bsc) was measured in 8 alcoholics, aged between 24 and 54 years, of lower-middle class backgrounds, with lengthy histories of alcoholism but no organic or psychological disturbance, and 12 healthy nonalcoholics, aged between 21 and 36 years, of upper-middle class backgrounds. The subjects were seated in a darkened room, with electrodes attached to the plantar surfaces of the feet, and 3 measurements of bsc were taken at 90-second intervals. The mean of these 3 measurements in the alcoholics (1.4531, sc = 0.2131) did not differ significantly from that of the nonalcoholics (1.5129, sc = 0.1697). The bsc levels of the 12 nonalcoholics were measured 30 minutes after 0.86 ml per kg of alcohol and after no alcohol. A comparison of the means (after alcohol, 1.38358, sc = 0.03241; without alcohol, 1.52318, sc = 0.10026; t = 1.32, 11 df, p<.10) revealed that alcohol tends to reduce the level of arousal. Taken together with previous findings, the results indicate that the responsiveness of alcoholics is no greater than nonalcoholics until specific stimulation is introduced. Alcohol reduces the general arousal level but subsequently increases responsiveness to specific stimuli. The authors propose that alcohol serves to relieve the early, vague experience of distress with the attendant increase in responsiveness relegated to the status of a secondary unavoidable effect. This may establish a cycle of increasing responsiveness and greater need for relief, particularly in persons who lack the ability to modulate their responses.