Motor impairment, narcosis and hypothermia by ethanol: separate genetic mechanisms

The AT and ANT rat lines, developed by selective outbreeding for differential ethanol-induced motor impairment, were tested for their sensitivity to the hypothermic and narcotic (loss of righting reflex) effects of ethanol. In contrast to the large differences between the lines in their degree of motor impairment, as measured with both the tilting-plane and rotarod tests, only minor differences were observed in duration of loss of righting reflex or hypothermia. Therefore, we suggest that genetically determined factors influencing motor impairment are for the most part dissociated from the factors determining the hypothermic and narcotic effects of ethanol.