The Influence of Ethyl Alcohol on the Spontaneous Electrical Activity of the Cerebral Cortex and Subcortical Structures of the Cat

Abstract

The effect of ethyl alcohol on the spontaneous electrical activity of the cerebral cortex and sub- cortical ganglia was studied in 47 cats. In 17 unrestrained animals the behavioral changes and alterations of the bioeiectrical patterns induced by alcohol intoxication were correlated; in another series the ecg. phenomena were studied in animals curarized and artificially ventilated. Alcohol was administered by stomach tube or by intraven. infusion. Alcohol levels in the blood were detd. at intervals throughout the expts. The general effect of alcohol on the ecg. is a reduction in frequency and a decrease in amplitude. However, at low levels of alcoholization (20-40 mg./100 cc.) the ecg. is characterized by spindle-slow wave patterns consistent with the narcotic action of alcohol. At very high concns. (over 300 mg./lOO cc.) generalized irregular delta activity predominates and parallels the comatose state of intoxication. The electrical activity of the thalamus and the caudate nucleus is similarly altered, although the striatum seems less affected than the thalamus.