Abstract
The effects of alcohol (0.8 g/kg) on the prefrontal cortex were studied in nine healthy subjects using the technique of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) combined with electroencephalography (EEG). A total of 120 magnetic pulses were delivered with a figure-of-eight coil to the left prefrontal cortex at the rate of 0.4–0.7 Hz. The EEG was recorded simultaneously with 60 scalp electrodes (41 electrodes were used for analysis); the TMS-evoked activation was estimated by the area under the global mean field amplitude (GMFA) time curve. TMS caused changes in EEG activity lasting up to 270 ms poststimulus. Alcohol decreased GMFA at 30–270 ms poststimulus (713±303 vs 478±142 μV ms; p=0.007). Alcohol-induced differences were most pronounced at anterior electrodes. These results suggest that alcohol reduces the excitability in the prefrontal cortex.
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Acknowledgements
This work was supported by Helsinki University Central Hospital Research Funds and the Academy of Finland. We thank Matti Holi, MD and Jari Karhu, MD, PhD for helping with the experiments, and also Jarmo Ruohonen, PhD for calculations of the induced field by the TMS coil.
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Kähkönen, S., Wilenius, J., Nikulin, V. et al. Alcohol Reduces Prefrontal Cortical Excitability in Humans: A Combined TMS and EEG Study. Neuropsychopharmacol 28, 747–754 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.npp.1300099
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.npp.1300099
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