the field has been a variety of studies showing that acute and chronic exposure to alcohol can modulate voltage-dependent and independent ion channels that regulate excitability. These include so-called “leak” channels that are active around the resting membrane potential (RMP) and contribute to RMP, input resistance and inter-spike intervals. In this way, plasticity of intrinsic excitability (PIE) provides another mechanism by which alcohol can influence neuronal network activity, by altering the physiological “input-output function” of neurons, expressed in terms of the F-I curve, i.e. neuronal firing rate in response to (synaptic) current input.
