Effects of Alcohol on the Neuron

The neurophysiologist hopes, in time, to understand the effects of alcohol on the total organism, but focuses his investigative efforts on least suborders of behaviors, as well as on setting up of arbitrary limits or boundaries with regard to both data and theory.

Abstract

It should be made clear at once that the nature of the ensuing discussion is deliberately limited. Consideration of the effects of alcohols on cerebral neurons (or stated another way, cerebral effects of alcohols at the cellular and subcellular levels) necessitates taking a quite specific point of view. The latter is based on certain assumptions, some of which can be stated, as well as on the setting up of arbitrary limits or boundaries with regard to both data and theory (or, depending on the degree of libidinal investment, with regard to both fact and fancy). The limits are particularly obvious if the concept of "behavior" is involved; this is certainly the primary interest of psychiatrists and psychologists dealing with the use of alcohol consumed either occasionally or chronically. For present purposes, i.e., in the neurophysiologic or neurobiologic frame of reference, behavior is also a central issue, but in more than the usual sense. The neurophysiologist, in other words, hopes, in time, to understand the effects of alcohol on the total organism (alone and in its relationships to others), but focuses his investigative efforts on least suborders of behaviors: