Effects of ethanol on the cochlear nucleus and auditory cortex of the cat.

Abstract

the short-term effects of ethanol on the electrical activity of the brain is the determination of the sensitivity of various regions to alcohol. Such information would further understanding of the behavioral sequelae accompanying intoxication and facilitate study of the mechanisms of alcohol's action on the brain. Many studies have focused on the relative effects of ethanol on major neuroanatomical structures and subdivisions. It has been proposed that the cerebral cortex is the region most susceptible to alcohol, in part because higher psychological functions, presumably under cortical control, are disrupted early in the intoxication sequence; subcortical regions are thought to be affected by ethanol thereafter, until extreme intoxication depresses vital centers in the hindbrain (2-4). Studies in which simultaneous recordings are obtained from the cerebral cortex and subcortical structures provide data which are directly relevant to this model of ethanol's action on the brain. There are several reports that sensory evoked responses are more