Paper
ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAPHIC AND OTHER EVIDENCE FOR MIXED DEPRESSANT AND STIMULANT ACTIONS OF ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES
Published Apr 1, 1973 · H. B. Murphree
Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
27
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Abstract
In the 19th century, alcohol was commonly thought to be a stimulant. More recently, it has been regarded as a depressant, related in action to the general anesthetics. Apparent stimulant ,actions such as increased activity, verbosity, and so on have been explained as being results of disinhibition. The concept of disinhibition has recently come under criticism, as has been well discussed by Carpenter.’ Moreover, disinhibition alone may be inadequate to explain some of the apparently stimulant effects of alcohol. Our electroencephalographic and related work suggests that alcohol may have both depressant and stimulant actions. Earlier work2 with computer analysis of the electroencephalograms of subjects given alcoholic beverages suggested mild depressant effects on the central nervous system. The actual appearance of the records and the changes seen were dependent on the initial state of the s ~ b j e c t s . ~ Subjects who had low-alpha, “alerted” records before dosage tended to show increases in alpha activity as the alcohol moved them to a less aroused state. Subjects who began with high-alpha records tended to show reductions in alpha as the alcohol made them mildly drowsy. The changes were also dose-dependent. Larger doses, which caused frank drowsiness, were accompanied not only by reductions in alpha but also by the appearance of, and progressive increases in, slow-wave (1-4 per sec) activity. A time-serial reciprocal relationship between alpha and slow activity was demonstrated. As the alpha diminished, the slow activity bloomed. All of the foregoing is in accord with the view that alcohol and alcoholic beverages are depressant.
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