Ethanol modulation of synaptic plasticity

Synaptic plasticity in the most general terms represents the flexibility of neurotransmission in response to neuronal activity. Synaptic plasticity is essential both for the moment-by-moment modulation of neural activity in response to dynamic environmental cues and for long-term learning and memory formation. These temporal characteristics are served by an array of pre- and post-synaptic mechanisms that are frequently modulated by ethanol exposure. This modulation likely makes significant contributions to both alcohol abuse and dependence. In this review, I discuss the modulation of both short-term and long-term synaptic plasticity in the context of specific ethanol-sensitive cellular substrates. A general discussion of the available preclinical, animal-model based neurophysiology literature provides a comparison between results from in vitro and in vivo studies. Finally, in the context of alcohol abuse and dependence, the review proposes potential behavioral contributions by ethanol modulation of plasticity.This article is part of a Special Issue entitled ‘Synaptic Plasticity and Addiction’.

► This work reviews data describing ethanol modulation of synaptic plasticity.
► Topics include acute ethanol alterations of short- and long-term plasticity.
► Modulation by in vivo and chronic ethanol exposure is also discussed.
► The behavioral impact of ethanol–plasticity interaction is highlighted.