Ethanol depresses inferior olive neurones and reduces Purkinje cell complex spike activity evoked by cerebral cortical stimulation.

Complex spike activity was evoked in cerebellar Purkinje cells by submaximal stimulation of the sensory cerebral cortex of urethane anaesthetised rats. Ethanol (1.5 g/kg, i.v. over 10 min) produced a parallel decrease in spontaneous and cerebral cortex-evoked CS activity. The spontaneous firing rate of inferior olive neurones was decreased by ethanol administered intravenously (1.5 g/kg, over 10 min) or locally by micropressure ejection. Thus, the decrease in CS activity produced by ethanol is due to a depression of inferior olive neurones, possibly by a direct action of ethanol on these neurones.