PSYC 222 1st Edition Lecture 13Outline of Last Lecture i. distilled productsii. beeriii. wineiv. distilled spiritsv. early u.s views on alcohol usevi. temperance movement vii. prohibitionviii.regulation and taxationOutline of Current Lecture i. U.S alcohol consumptionii. What is one drink?iii. Pharmacologyiv. Alcohol metabolismv. Sex differencesvi. mechanism of actionvii. behavorial effectsviii.driving under the influenceCurrent Lecturei. 1/3 of the U.S population abstain. Half the alcohol is consumed by 10% of the drinkers. Alcohol sales are higher in population centers. Males are more likely to drink than females and more likely to drink more. College students drink more than their nonstudent peers. Many campuses have banned sale and advertising of alcohol. Manyfraternities have banned keg parties. Evidence this is helping: fewer students binge drinking and fewer students driving after drinking. ii. Standard drink has about 0.5 ounces of pure alcohol. 12 ounces of beer. 4 ounces of wine. 1 ounce of 100 proof spirits.iii. Absorption: most absorption is in the small intestines; some absorped in the stomach. Slower if there is food or water in the stomach. Faster in the presence of carbondated beverages. Distribution: blood alcohol concetration(BAC) is the measure of the concetration of alcohol in the blood, expressed as a percentage in terms of grams per 100 ml. Alcohol is distributed throughout body fluids but not fatty tissue. A lean person will have a lower BAC than a fatter person of the same weight. Metabolism: liver metabolizes about 0.25 ounces of alcohol per hour. If the rate of intake is equal to the rate of metabolism, BAC is stable. If the rate of intake exceeds rate of metabolism, BAC increases.iv. About 90% is metabolized in the liver. About 2% of alcohol is excreted unchanged; breath, skin, liver. Metabolism is based on a stable rate (excercise, coffee, etc does not speed up metabolism rates). Liver responds to chronic intake of alcohol by increasing enzyme activity (contributes to tolerance among heavy users). For heavy alcohol users, when alcohol is present metabolism is slower, when alcohol is not present metabolism isfaster.v. Women may be more susceptable than men to the effects of alcohol after consuming the same amount; women tend to weigh less and have a higher proportion of body fat, thus women absorb a greater proportion of the alcohol they drink. Metabolism alcohol dehydrogenase is less active in women.vi. In general, alcohol is a central nervous system depressant (exact mechanism of action is not clear; alcohol has many effects on the CNS, and alcohol enhances the inhibitory effect of GABA at the GABA recptor. At high doses alcohol blocks glutamate. Alcohol also effects dopamine, serotonin and acetylcholine neurons.vii. Mood changes can include: Euphoria, reduced anxieties and reduced inhibitions. Effects are dose dependent; blood alcohol concetration determines effects (ex: at low blood levels, complex and abstract behavior maybe disrupted, at higher levels simpler behaviors may be affected) Effects depend on the time course (ex: effects are greater when BAC rises rapidly). Effects are influenced by the individuals alcohol experience (ex:a higher BAC is needed to impair a chronic heavy drinker). Effects are influenced by expectations (ex: placebo effects explain many of the effects on social behavior).viii. Approxiamately 40% of all traffic crash fatalities are linked to alcohol use. 2011 data indicate that total fatalities are linked to alcohol use. 2011 data indicate that fatalities have dropped to about 32,000. Risk of a fatal crash is dose-related; sharp increase in fatalities w/ BAC over .10. Men are more likely than wommen to be involved in an alcohol related fatal crash. The majority of alcohol related individuals are not " problem drinkers" Alcohol use may enhance interest in sex but impair physiological arousal. Linked to risky sexual behavior. Blackouts; a danger sign of excessive alcohol use. Alcoholuse is statistically related to: homicide, assault; including family violence, sexual assault and date rape, and