The sedative but not the memory-blocking properties of ethanol are modulated by α5-subunit-containing γ-aminobutyric acid type A receptors

• Published in: Behavioural brain research Vol. 217; no. 2; pp. 379 - 385
• Main Authors: Martin, Loren J., Zurek, Agnieszka A., Bonin, Robert P., Oh, Gabriel H.T., Kim, John H., Mount, Howard T.J., Orser, Beverley A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Shannon Elsevier B.V 01.03.2011; Elsevier
• Subjects: Acoustic Stimulation - adverse effects; Animals; Behavior, Animal; Behavioral psychophysiology; Biological and medical sciences; Cells, Cultured; Central Nervous System Depressants - pharmacology; Conditioning (Psychology) - drug effects; Conditioning (Psychology) - physiology; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Electric Stimulation - methods; Ethanol; Ethanol - pharmacology; Exploratory Behavior - drug effects; Fear - drug effects; Freezing Reaction, Cataleptic - drug effects; Freezing Reaction, Cataleptic - physiology; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; GABA; Hippocampus; Hippocampus - cytology; Inhibition; Locomotion - drug effects; Locomotion - genetics; Membrane Potentials - drug effects; Membrane Potentials - genetics; Memory; Memory Disorders - chemically induced; Memory Disorders - genetics; Mice; Mice, Knockout; Patch-Clamp Techniques; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Pyramidal Cells - drug effects; Pyramidal Cells - physiology; Receptors, GABA-A - deficiency; Receptors, GABA-A - metabolism; Sedation; Time Factors; α5 subunit; α5 subunit; Ethanol; Memory; GABA; Inhibition; Sedation; Hippocampus; Central nervous system; Blocking; Subunit; Encephalon; Neurotransmitter; Biological receptor

▶ Ethanol does not exert its memory-impairing effects through α5GABAA receptors. ▶ Behaviorally-relevant concentrations of ethanol do not enhance an α5GABAA receptor-mediated tonic inhibitory current in cultured hippocampal pyramidal neurons. ▶ The sedative properties of ethanol may be in part gener...