Alcohol Flashcards
Which inhibitory receptors does alcohol stimulate?
GABA-A
Does alcohol reduce anxiety?
Consistently reduces measures of anxiety in rodents.
Describe the CAT odour avoidance test and how alcohol affects it.
Rat released to a compartment where an odour of a cat is present which creates anxiety.
When the rats had been given alcohol they hide less and approached more readily.
Describe the elevated maze tests and how alcohol affects it.
Rats have innate fear of heights. They are put into a cross section of a maze where one section is open, the other is closed.
Rats would normally stay in the closed section however when given alcohol they spend more time in the open section.
How does alcohol interfere with memory?
interfere with the encoding of new info into the LT declarative memory.
Describe the mechanisms involved in memory loss due to alcohol.
State dependent forgetting.
hippocampal synaptic mechanisms of memory may contribute to alcohol induced amnesia
Why do people continue to consume alcohol?
Stimulate the reward system in the brain (DA).
- the increase in DA transmission in nucleus accumbens.
How is the increase of DA after alcohol tested?
Microdialysers placed into brain which flushes spinal fluid into the brain. DA content of this fluid then measured
how does withdrawal from alcohol affect DA transmission.
Once animals in a state of withdrawal, DA levels fell below controls.
the decreased DA means individual don’t respond properly to rewards so alcohol is needed.
