Using IV infusion to “clamp” BrAC at a specific concentration over an extended period is ideal for examining acute adaptation (acute sensitization or tolerance) to alcohol without the complications of intersubject variability in BrAC, or sensitivity to the rate or the direction of change (O’Connor et al., 1998). BrAC closely approximates the arterial alcohol concentration (Gomez et al., 2012), and therefore the brain’s exposure to alcohol, since the brain is a high-flow, low-volume organ.
