Chronic exposure of crayfish to ethanol reduces EPSP depression due to sudden change in ethanol concentration

Abstract

In this experiment, the difference in the values of EPSPs between crayfish chronically exposed to ethanol and nonexposed crayfish in the presence of ethanol was observed. The study tested the ESPS values in the crayfish extensor muscles when placed first in crayfish saline, and then again when the same muscles were introduced to a 2% and 10% solutions of ethanol in crayfish saline. The EPSPs of both exposed and normal crayfish decreased between the crayfish saline and the 2% ethanol solution in crayfish saline. However, in the chronically exposed crayfish, the EPSPs were not as greatly affected by the presence of the 10% ethanol solution as the non-exposed crayfish had less than 10% reduction of EPSP amplitude. These results indicate that crayfish with chronic exposure to ethanol may process it and react differently react to the presence of ethanol than normal crayfish.