Drinking alcohol blocks a chemical that promotes attention

Martin Paukert, MD, assistant professor of cellular and integrative physiology at UT Health San Antonio.

In a new paper, researchers from UT Health San Antonio report brain chemistry that may contribute to why drinkers have difficulty paying attention while under the influence.

The work is funded by generous support from the Robert J. Kleberg, Jr. and Helen C. Kleberg Foundation and by grants from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and the National Institute of Mental Health. Findings were published in Nature Communications.

“When we want to focus on something, or when we stand up from a chair and become active, a brain stem nucleus releases a chemical called norepinephrine. Acute exposure to alcohol inhibits this signal in the brain,” said senior author Martin Paukert, MD, assistant professor of cellular and integrative physiology at UT Health San Antonio.

Read the full news release.



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