IUBio

blackout, what happened?

SG sg at psy.ox.ac.uk
Mon Dec 16 14:51:20 EST 1996


F. Frank LeFever wrote:
> 
> In <72lob54gns.fsf at trio.ii.uib.no> Helge Avlesen <avle at trio.ii.uib.no>
> writes:

> >Is it true that drinking large quantities of alcohol kills braincells?
> >Why do some get blackouts, and what happens with the brain physically? 
> >We are some friends discussing this, and we found out we really don't
> >have a clue...

> Check out literature on NMDA, LTP (long term potentiation), memory:
> experimental work (rats) shows brief blocking of NMDA activation
> immediately after a "1-trial learning" experience prevents LTP and
> prevents memory formation (for that event).  Then check out literature
> on effect of various things on NMDA: ketamine blocks it very strongly,
> but alcohol also tends to.  May be individual differences in
> vulnerability (e.g. number or sensitivity of NMDA receptors, e.g.
> strength of converging inflences on NMDA activation and/or subsequent
> events--NO production, etc.
> 
> Frank LeFever
> New York Neuropsychology Group


The NMDA story is not so straightforward, for details see
http://www.jneurosci.org/cgi/content/full/16/12/4041

If to speak about literature search, it would probably be more 
informative for our Norwegian friends to search for the keywords 
"alcohol neurotoxicity" and "state-dependent learning"

Sergei



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