Specific groups of neurons express one or more channels that are direct or indirect ethanol targets, allowing for neuron-specific ethanol modulation of activity. In the case of neurons whose intrinsic activity is ethanol insensitive, it remains to be determined whether they lack ethanol target channels or whether the factors that control sensitivity to ethanol (e.g., post-translational modifications) differ between ethanol-sensitive and insensitive neurons. Future studies should use both top-down and bottom-up approaches to examine how acute and chronic ethanol exposure affects excitability and firing in different neuronal populations in brain regions with key roles in the behavioral actions of ethanol and in which ethanol-sensitive molecules contribute to these changes.
