title: Serotonergic ethanol effects and auditory evoked dipole activity in alcoholic and healthy subjects.
abstract: Ethanol has central serotonergic effects that may be of pathogenetic importance in a subgroup of alcohol-dependent patients with a central serotonergic hypofunction. Recent results indicate that pronounced amplitude increases of auditory evoked responses (tangential dipoles, N1/P2 component) with increasing stimulus intensity (loudness) may be an indicator of such a low serotonergic neurotransmission. Because of its serotonin-agonistic effects, ethanol can be expected to decrease this intensity dependence. Twenty-eight alcoholic patients were studied both in the intoxication phase and after 1 week of withdrawal. A reduced intensity dependence of the tangential dipole activity was observed in the intoxicated state. Correspondingly, a reduction of this parameter was found in 14 healthy subjects after an ethanol load (1 g/kg, p.o.).
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Hegerl
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Juckel
authors.forename: L G
authors.initials: LG
authors.lastname: Schmidt
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Rommelspacher
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000430:Alcohol Withdrawal Delirium / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D000435:Alcoholic Intoxication / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation; D001143:Arousal / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D015415:Biomarkers; D001921:Brain / Q000187:drug effects / Q000503:physiopathology; D001931:Brain Mapping; D004569:Electroencephalography / Q000187:drug effects; D000431:Ethanol / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D005072:Evoked Potentials, Auditory / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009460:Neurologic Examination; D011985:Receptors, Serotonin / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D012016:Reference Values; D012701:Serotonin / Q000502:physiology*; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted; D014168:Transferrin / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D011985:Receptors, Serotonin; D014168:Transferrin; C056759:carbohydrate-deficient transferrin; D012701:Serotonin; D000431:Ethanol