Chunk #1 — A Multi-level, Integrative Analysis of Ethanol’s Effects on the Nervous System: Bottom-Up and Top-Down Approaches to Finding Ethanol Targets
effects due to changes in membrane fluidity are not helpful in understanding how ethanol alters neuronal function (Peoples et al., 1996). Even if fluidity changes occur, these changes lead to altered neuronal function, and thus, we must examine the proteins that dictate neuronal function. Thankfully, the tools available to modern neuroscientists have enabled examination of ethanol effects at multiple levels. We can now determine how a given molecular effect on a specific neuronal or synaptic subtype contributes to ethanol-induced behavioral changes. Both bottom-up and top-down approaches are being used in such studies.
