Effect of ethanol on impulse activity in isolated cerebellum

We tested the question of whether ethanol's known action on the cerebellum is direct or indirect, via neural pathways. The cerebellum of rats was denervated by large electrolytic lesions of the peduncles. Ethanol (1 gm/kg, intraperitoneally injected) generally depressed impulse activity of neuronal populations in the cerebellar cortex, whereas such activity increased in saline-injected controls.