Table 1.

Summary of EtOH’s effects on synaptic plasticity in the neocortex, dorsal striatum and hippocampus

Alcohol (EtOH) and synaptic transmission and plasticity
	Neocortex	Dorsal striatum	Hippocampus
Acute EtOH	↓	↓	↓
EtOH washout	NA	↑	NA
in vivo EtOH	–/↑	↑	↓/↑
Withdrawal from in vivo EtOH	NA	↑	↓
Abstinence from in vivo EtOH	–	↑	–/↑

Acute EtOH, EtOH on slices; EtOH washout, washout of acute EtOH on slices; in vivo EtOH, animals experiencing EtOH via injections, oral self-administration or EtOH vapor inhalation; withdrawal from in vivo EtOH, cessation of in vivo EtOH for a period of 5 to 20 hours; abstinence from in vivo EtOH, cessation of in vivo EtOH for a period of 48 hours and beyond. Up arrow indicates increase, down arrow indicates decrease, line indicates no change, NA indicates that data is not available.