ETHANOL, MONOAMINES, AND AFFECT

Evidence suggests that ethanol self-administration is directly related to central norepinephrine (NE) activity and inversely related to cent ral serotonin (5-HT) activity. Normal male volunteers participated in a placebo controlled crossover design to assess the effects of 1-tyros ine (TY) and 1-tryptophan (TP) (precursors of catecholamines and 5-HT, respectively) in combination with ethanol, on several neurobehavioral measures. Ethanol by itself produced negative effects on several dime nsions of mood. Dysphoria was potentiated by TP in combination with et hanol and either unchanged or attenuated by the combination of TY and ethanol. Ethanol impaired verbal recall, and neither TP nor TY in comb ination with ethanol altered that impairment. The results are consiste nt with the hypothesis that 5-HT mediates some of the negative mood ef fects produced by ethanol or antagonizes some of its positive effects, while NE at least partly mediates ethanol's positive effects on mood. Ethanol's impairment of verbal memory appears to be mediated by mecha nisms outside the monoamine systems.