title: Ethanol effects on striatal neuron activity.
abstract: Cellular effects of ethanol were investigated in the rat neostriatum with local perfusion and extracellular, single unit recording techniques. Neuronal activity was modulated specifically as a function of ethanol concentration over a wide test range. At extremely low doses (10(-9) and 10(-8) M), the neuronal responses to drug perfusion were exclusively excitatory. However, at the highest doses examined (10(-8) and 10(-4) M), the results were reversed. In the midrange, a number of apparently ineffective tests were obtained, along with bimodal (excitation followed by depression) responses. The unequivocal responsiveness to ethanol at very low concentrations raises the possibility of a physiological role for the endogenous substance.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000187:drug effects*; D004298:Dopamine / Q000378:metabolism; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D000431:Ethanol / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008297:Male; D009474:Neurons / Q000187:drug effects; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000187:drug effects; D009435:Synaptic Transmission / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D000431:Ethanol; D004298:Dopamine