Diaz and Valenzuela [13] found that 40mM ethanol increased the frequency of sIPSCs in cerebellar granule neurons obtained from pre-weaning rats. This concentration also increased tonic inhibitory currents in these cells. Belmeguenai and colleagues [16] assessed the effect of a moderately high dose of ethanol (50 mM) on long-term depression at cerebellar parallel fiber synapses onto Purkinje cells in rats, and found that this concentration blocks LTD, but not LTP, at these synapses. 50mM ethanol also reduced the amplitude of voltage-gated calcium currents; this effect was not observed at a lower concentration (20mM). Ethanol also reduced mGluR1-mediated EPSC amplitude at 50mM, but not 20mM, and this effect persisted after washout, suggesting that moderately high concentrations of ethanol induce long-term alterations via an mGluR1 mechanism.
