Abstract
Baboons with a history of chronic, daily ethanol ingestion were subsequently studied under conditions that assessed the effects of acute oral self-administration of ethanol on auditory and visual threshold functions and reaction times. During the post-chronic experiment reported herein, the animals consumed specific amounts of ethanol twice weekly (0.1, 0.32, 1.0 or 1.3 g/kg), following which they immediately performed psychophysical tests designed to assess ethanol's effects on sensory thresholds and reaction times. Clear, dose-related increases in reaction times were observed following ethanol doses greater than 0.32 g/kg. Trends within individual threshold functions were consistent with systematic changes in auditory and visual threshold sensitivities of 1-3 dB at the high ethanol doses. Reaction time increases ranged from 25 to 180 ms above baseline levels at the highest dose (a 15% average increase). These general findings however, were in contrast to data obtained in the same animals under conditions of daily, chronic ethanol administration which characteristically showed greater sensory/motor effects of up to twice the magnitude of those observed with single doses.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 85-100 |
Number of pages | 16 |
Journal | Drug and alcohol dependence |
Volume | 30 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Apr 1992 |
Keywords
- baboon
- ethanol
- hearing
- reaction time
- vision
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Toxicology
- Pharmacology
- Psychiatry and Mental health
- Pharmacology (medical)