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ALCOHOL METABOLISM

How alcohol affects motor control: not your usual suspects

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It is self-evident that consuming alcohol affects brain function and behaviour. What is not clear, however, is how alcohol does so. A new study shows that impairments in balance and motor coordination evoked by low-dose alcohol are mediated not by ethanol itself but by one of its metabolites, which is produced locally by astrocytes in the brain rather than in the liver.

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Fig. 1: Ethanol metabolism by cerebellar astrocytes mediates motor impairments classically associated with alcohol intoxication.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Neuroscience Institute, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA

    Riccardo Melani & Nicolas X. Tritsch

  2. Fresco Institute for Parkinson’s and Movement Disorders, New York University Langone Health, New York, NY, USA

    Riccardo Melani & Nicolas X. Tritsch

Authors
  1. Riccardo Melani
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  2. Nicolas X. Tritsch
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Correspondence to Nicolas X. Tritsch.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Melani, R., Tritsch, N.X. How alcohol affects motor control: not your usual suspects. Nat Metab 3, 293–294 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s42255-021-00355-1

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