Introduction

Alcohol has been known for disturbing peoples ability to make

decision, retrieve past memory, and control their emotions and actions,
which are guided by frontal and temporal lobe.
Chronic consumption of alcohol can lead to cerebral atrophy and
abnormality in plasticity, although little amount of alcohol consumption
can actually improve short-term memory and reasoning.
The level of alcohol sensitivity correlates with the extent of alcohol
intoxication effects and physiological changes.
Hypothesis: The amount of alcohol consumption correlates negatively
with the extent of correctness of a participants performance, which is
induced by alcohol-induced changes that happen to neurotransmitters in
brain, in an attention task.

Method and Procedure
All participants, ages range from 21 to 35, must have a clean substance
abuse history and good health conditions without any major conditions
(including pregnancy) and have a moderate amount of drinks each week
(2-15 drinks per week). They are selected randomly from newspaper
advertisements.
Trail Making Test Part B (TMT-B): It has been used in previous studies
to test out prefrontal functions and cognitive performance of the alcohol-
dependent patients. The TMT-B is a measure of visualconceptual and
skills, with a focus on divided attention and mental flexibility. The
participant is instructed to connect randomly-arranged circles each of
which contains either a number from 1 to 13 or a letter from A to L as
quickly as possible. The dependent measure is the total time (in seconds)
required to complete the task.
Participants were randomly assigned to receive a high dose, moderate,
or placebo dose vodka and tonic beverage.
Electrodes are put onto participants scalps to see if there are any other
regions of the brain are active besides the frontal cortex during the task.

























Results and Discussion
The amount of alcohol consumption correlates negatively with the
correctness of a participants performance; As the amount of alcohol
consumption increases (higher dose), the quality of the participants
performance decreases.
The frontal lobe activity can be affected by the increase in gamma-
aminobutyric acid (GABA), a type of inhibitory neurotransmitters that
restrict the actions of glutamate and its receptor, NMDA.
Increase in GABA thereby depress ones cognition and motor skills.
Small amounts of alcohol have been shown to interfere with glutamate
action. This interference could affect several brain functions, including
memory.
Chronic alcohol consumption increases glutamate receptor sites in the
hippocampus. During alcohol withdrawal, glutamate receptors that have
adapted to the longterm presence of alcohol may become overactive, and
this hypo-activity has been repeatedly linked to neuronal death, which is
manifested by conditions such as stroke and seizures.

References
Bartholow, Bruce D., et al. "Effects of alcohol consumption and alcohol
susceptibility on cognition: a psychophysiological
examination." Biological Psychology 64.1 (2003): 167-190.
Loeber, Sabine, et al. "Impairment of cognitive abilities and decision
making after chronic use of alcohol: the impact of multiple
detoxifications." Alcohol and Alcoholism (2009): agp030.
Oscar-Berman, Marlene, and Ksenija Marinkovic. "Alcoholism and the
brain: an overview." Alcohol Research and Health 27.2 (2003): 125-133.
Zeigler, Donald W., et al. "The neurocognitive effects of alcohol on
adolescents and college students." Preventive medicine 40.1 (2005): 23-
32.
The Effects of Different Amounts of Alcohol on Neurotransmission in
Prefrontal Cortex that Affects Ones Attention
Kelly Liang
Mills High School
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Amount of Alcohol (g/kg)
Correlation Between the Amount of Alcohol and the Time to
Finish TMT-B