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Alteration of ethanol-induced cns depression: Ineffectiveness of drugs that modify cholinergic transmission

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Abstract

Rats trained to perform in a discriminated lever-press avoidance situation were given ethanol orally to depress their performance. In an attempt to modify the ethanol-induced depression with drugs which would reverse or enhance reported effects of ethanol in reducing free cerebral acetylcholine, parenteral atropine, intraventricular hemicholinium, and intraventricular acetylcholine were given during ethanol intoxication. None of the drugs significantly altered the ethanol-induced behavioral depression, suggesting that the reported reduction in free acetylcholine during ethanol intoxication may merely reflect decreased neuronal activity, rather than being an important causative factor in ethanol-induced CNS depression.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, School of Pharmacy, The University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas

    D. T. Graham & C. K. Erickson

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  1. D. T. Graham
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  2. C. K. Erickson
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Supported by USPHS Grant MH-14485 from the National Institute of Mental Health.

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Graham, D.T., Erickson, C.K. Alteration of ethanol-induced cns depression: Ineffectiveness of drugs that modify cholinergic transmission. Psychopharmacologia 34, 173–180 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00421942

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00421942

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