Mechanisms of postural ataxia after intake of alcohol

The effect of an acute intoxication with alcohol on the stability of stance was examined in 12 healthy subjects. They drank 11 of wine within 1 h. The resulting blood alcohol concentrations ranged between 0.9 and 1.67 mg/ml. Static posturography at the end of drinking and 1 h later revealed a significant increase in body sway which was mainly due to an increase in anteroposterior sway only present with closed eyes. A comparison of the results of posturography after acute intoxication with the data of patients with permanent lesions confined to the different functional subunits of the cerebellum shows that the acute effect of alcohol largely resembles that of a chronic lesion of the cerebellar anterior lobe (the spinocerebellum).