Effects of ethanol on the excitability of hippocampal granule neurons

The effects of low dose ethanol treatment on neuronal firing threshold were studied in dentate granule neurons using intracellular recording. A higher threshold for orthodromic activation and lower threshold for somatic activation were observed in 50 mM of ethanol, based on an examination of the excitatory postsynaptic potentials, strength duration and repetitive firing properties. Experiments involving blockade of glutamate-receptor subtypes suggest that an N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor mediated mechanism is implicated in this action of ethanol.