Kelly Liang

AM Class
7/27/2014
The Effects of Different Amounts of Alcohol on Neurotransmission in Prefrontal Cortex that
Affects Ones Attention
Abstract
Introduction
Alcohol has been known for disturbing
peoples ability to make decision, retrieve past
memory, and control their emotions. Since
everyone is different in height and weight, as
well as the number of enzymes that break
down alcohol in bloodstream, everyone
possesses different level of alcohol sensitivity,
so the level of alcohol sensitivity correlates
with the extent of alcohol intoxication effects
and physiological changes.
Chronic consumption of alcohol can
lead to cerebral atrophy, although little amount
of alcohol consumption can actually improve
short-term memory and reasoning. Chronic
Alcoholics were also reported to perform
worse than the sober when both were doing
the same tasks on attention, execution, and
memory.
One of the ways alcohol damages the
brain
is
its
effects
on
different
neurotransmitters, especially the inhibitory
ones, which cause people to have less control
over their emotions and talk a lot when they
are intoxicated with alcohol. In additions,
these inhibitory neurotransmitters can impair
peoples ability to make decisions and
concentrate on certain tasks, which include
reaction time.

From all these information I got from

previous studies, I assume that the amount of
alcohol consumption correlates positively with
the amount of time that takes a participant to
finish a task that requires much attention,
because alcohol induces changes that happen
to neurotransmitters in brain, in an attention
task.
Method
40 participants are selected randomly
from newspaper advertisements, with ages
range from 25 to 35. They all must have a
clean history substance abuse and good health
conditions without any major medical
conditions (including pregnancy, for alcohol
can affect the development of the fetuss
brain) and have a moderate amount of drinks
each week (4-15 drinks per week). To test
these participants alcohol sensitivity, they will
be given certain number of drinks to see if
they feel any big difference to the drinks a
month before the experiment. Participants
who are too sensitive or too unsusceptible to
alcohol will be excluded from this experiment.
In this experiment, Trail Making Test
Part B (TMT-B) will be used. It has been used
in previous studies to test out prefrontal
functions and cognitive performance of the
alcohol-dependent patients. The TMT-B is a
measure of visualconceptual and motor

skills, with a focus on divided attention and

mental flexibility. The participant is instructed
to connect randomly-arranged circles each of
which contains either a number from 1 to 13
or a letter from A to L as quickly as possible.
The dependent measure is the total time (in
seconds) required to complete the task.
Participants will be randomly assigned
to receive a high dose (0.80 g/kg ethanol for
men, 0.72 g/kg ethanol for women), moderate
dose (0.40 g/kg ethanol for men, 0.36 g/kg
ethanol for women), or placebo dose (actually,
0.04 g/kg ethanol) vodka (100 proof) and
tonic beverage. They will consume the
beverage about 15-20 minutes before they
start their tasks to let the alcohol get to their
brains through bloodstream. The amount of
time that takes the participants to finish the
task will be measured in seconds.
To check which parts of the brain will
be more active, electrodes are put onto
participants scalps to see if there are any other
regions of the brain are active besides the
frontal cortex during the task.
Results

Discussion
The frontal lobe activity can be
affected by the increase in gammaaminobutyric acid (GABA), a type of
inhibitory neurotransmitters that restrict the
actions of glutamate and its receptor, NMDA,
which can depress ones cognition and motor
skills. Small amounts of alcohol have been
shown to interfere with glutamate action. This
interference could affect several brain
functions, including memory. The frontal lobe
activity can be affected by the increase in
glutamatergic release induced by the
decreased sensitivity of NMDA receptors in
brain, for the frontal lobe is rich in
glutamatergic tracts. However, since most
regions
of
the
brain
have
these
neurotransmitters and receptors, it is hard to
tell whether it is the neurotransmitters and
receptors in the prefrontal cortex only that
affect the amount of time it took for the
participants to finish their tasks, so this part of
the hypothesis is not proved.
Chronic alcohol consumption increases
glutamate receptor sites in the hippocampus.
During alcohol withdrawal, glutamate
receptors that have adapted to the longterm
presence of alcohol may become overactive,
and this hypo-activity has been repeatedly
linked to neuronal death, which is manifested
by conditions such as stroke and seizures.
Conclusion
The amount of alcohol consumption
correlates positively with the amount of time
that takes a participant to finish a task that
requires much attention and motor skills, but it
is still unclear that whether it is the prefrontal

cortex or regions of brain that control the

motor skills (e.g., cerebellum) that affect the
speed more.

chronic use of alcohol: the impact of multiple

detoxifications." Alcohol
and
Alcoholism (2009): agp030.

References

Oscar-Berman,
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and
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Bartholow, Bruce D., et al. "Effects of alcohol

consumption and alcohol susceptibility on
cognition:
a
psychophysiological
examination." Biological
Psychology 64.1
(2003): 167-190.
Loeber, Sabine, et al. "Impairment of
cognitive abilities and decision making after

Zeigler, Donald W., et al. "The neurocognitive

effects of alcohol on adolescents and college
students." Preventive medicine 40.1 (2005):
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