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Alcohol impairs learning and timing of conditioned eyeblink responses

Johansson, Fredrik LU ; Rydberg, Vincent ; Arn, Nils-Erik ; Lundin, Johannes ; Gornov, Artem LU ; Winton, Robert LU ; Madison, Guy ; Hesslow, Germund LU and Rasmussen, Anders LU orcid (2025) In Brain Research 1854. p.1-6
Abstract

Alcohol impairs motor performance, but it remains unclear precisely why this is the case. Here, we examine the effects of alcohol intoxication on conditioned eyeblink responses, a form of classical conditioning dependent on the cerebellum. In experiment 1, the conditioned responses of 18 students before and after alcohol consumption up to 1 ‰ were compared against the performance of 26 non-drinking controls. In experiment 2, 17 students were tested repeatedly at increasing blood alcohol levels up to 1 ‰. The results reveal a gradual decrease in both the percentage and timing of conditioned responses following alcohol consumption, with pronounced impairments emerging at blood alcohol content levels exceeding 0.5 ‰. These findings are... (More)

Alcohol impairs motor performance, but it remains unclear precisely why this is the case. Here, we examine the effects of alcohol intoxication on conditioned eyeblink responses, a form of classical conditioning dependent on the cerebellum. In experiment 1, the conditioned responses of 18 students before and after alcohol consumption up to 1 ‰ were compared against the performance of 26 non-drinking controls. In experiment 2, 17 students were tested repeatedly at increasing blood alcohol levels up to 1 ‰. The results reveal a gradual decrease in both the percentage and timing of conditioned responses following alcohol consumption, with pronounced impairments emerging at blood alcohol content levels exceeding 0.5 ‰. These findings are consistent with the idea that the motor deficits associated with alcohol consumption are linked to effects on the cerebellum.

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author
; ; ; ; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
epub
subject
in
Brain Research
volume
1854
article number
149545
pages
1 - 6
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • pmid:40024359
  • scopus:85219513305
ISSN
1872-6240
DOI
10.1016/j.brainres.2025.149545
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
Copyright © 2025 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
id
58b4c324-03dc-4659-91a9-dd1a665a8b5f
date added to LUP
2025-03-12 20:34:23
date last changed
2025-05-08 08:25:08
@article{58b4c324-03dc-4659-91a9-dd1a665a8b5f,
  abstract     = {{<p>Alcohol impairs motor performance, but it remains unclear precisely why this is the case. Here, we examine the effects of alcohol intoxication on conditioned eyeblink responses, a form of classical conditioning dependent on the cerebellum. In experiment 1, the conditioned responses of 18 students before and after alcohol consumption up to 1 ‰ were compared against the performance of 26 non-drinking controls. In experiment 2, 17 students were tested repeatedly at increasing blood alcohol levels up to 1 ‰. The results reveal a gradual decrease in both the percentage and timing of conditioned responses following alcohol consumption, with pronounced impairments emerging at blood alcohol content levels exceeding 0.5 ‰. These findings are consistent with the idea that the motor deficits associated with alcohol consumption are linked to effects on the cerebellum.</p>}},
  author       = {{Johansson, Fredrik and Rydberg, Vincent and Arn, Nils-Erik and Lundin, Johannes and Gornov, Artem and Winton, Robert and Madison, Guy and Hesslow, Germund and Rasmussen, Anders}},
  issn         = {{1872-6240}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{02}},
  pages        = {{1--6}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Brain Research}},
  title        = {{Alcohol impairs learning and timing of conditioned eyeblink responses}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.brainres.2025.149545}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.brainres.2025.149545}},
  volume       = {{1854}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}