Alcohol and the Brain

VOCABULARY flashcards explaining the neurochemical interaction between alcohol and the brain's excitatory and inhibitory systems.

Neurons

Brain cells that interact with alcohol as it enters the brain to change thoughts and perception.

Neurotransmitters

Chemical messengers used by neurons to communicate or send electrical signals.

Glutamate

A neurotransmitter used by excitatory neurons to begin a wave of excitation.

GABA

A neurotransmitter used by inhibitory neurons that inhibits flow and helps organize and differentiate results in the brain.

Alcohol's effect on Glutamate

Alcohol suppresses glutamate transmission, making sites less effective and slowing the flow of information.

Alcohol's effect on GABA

Alcohol enhances GABA transmission, hushing excessive background noise and fine-tuning thoughts to an excessive degree.

Depressant

A classification for alcohol because it results in less excitation and more inhibition within the brain.

Information Flow under Alcohol

A state where flow becomes slow and only the largest signals can make it through, leading to perceiving and remembering less.

GABA Channels while Drunk

These channels are wide opened, leading to thinking very little but with great clarity.

Epileptic Seizure

The condition that excessive excitatory action would resemble if normal GABA transmission were absent.

Momentous attitude of a drunk

A result of wide open GABA channels and lack of glutamate, characterized by repeating the same idea or proclamation over and over.