Relationships between blood ethanol levels and ethanol-induced changes in cortical EEG power spectra in the rat

Adult female Sprague-Dawley rats were implanted with chronic cortical and temporalis muscle electrodes and/or intravenous cannulas. After acute ethanol administration, dose-dependent linear declines in blood ethanol concentration were found. Ethanol-induced increases in EEG spectral power in the 0 - 4 Hz band persisted long after blood ethanol levels and declined to zero; therefore, we found no correlation. Acute ethanol administration also produced an initial drop in 8 - 13 Hz spectral power. Then, as blood ethanol levels declined, 8 - 13 Hz spectral power increased toward normal; a significant negative linear correlation was found.