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Which Molecular and Cellular Actions of Ethanol Mediate Reinforcement?

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Molecular and Cellular Aspects of the Drug Addictions

Abstract

There are now several accepted CNS actions of ethanol obtainable with doses that reflect the human self-administration range. Actions at the molecular level include disordering of membrane lipids, functional alterations in membrane proteins, ion channels, and second-messenger-generating regulatory proteins, and changes in the metabolism of neurotransmitters. Actions at the cellular level include alterations in effectiveness of neurotransmitter actions, alterations in the effectiveness of specific neuronal pathways, and alterations in the spontaneous, or environmentally regulated activity of large arrays of neurons. This chapter reviews some of these molecular and cellular actions in an attempt to determine whether any “vertically linked” series of actions can yet be sufficiently aligned with the reinforcing behavioral action of alcohol to suggest the mechanisms that mediate such reinforcement.

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Authors
  1. Floyd E. Bloom
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pharmacology, School of Medicine, Stanford University, 94305, Stanford, California, USA

    Avram Goldstein M.D. (Addiction Research Foundation Professor) (Addiction Research Foundation Professor)

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© 1989 Springer-Verlag New York Inc.

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Bloom, F.E. (1989). Which Molecular and Cellular Actions of Ethanol Mediate Reinforcement?. In: Goldstein, A. (eds) Molecular and Cellular Aspects of the Drug Addictions. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-8817-3_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-8817-3_5

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4613-8819-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4613-8817-3

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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