Thanks to Stephen Black for digging out the information on alcohol and
dizziness from my textbook and sending it to the list. I read it at home
where I didn't have a copy of the book, and so was waiting to reply until I
got to the office.
I was off the list for four months when I was on Semester at Sea, a
round-the-world floating university operated by the University of
Pittsburgh--a great experience for any who are up to living cheek by jowl with
600 undergrads for 100 days. Then I took a while to get back on the list and
have lurked for some time. He is correct that I am turned off by the inane
discussion that seems to dominate the list.
thanks again, Stephen
don
Stephen Black wrote:
> On Fri, 13 Oct 2000, Goss, Bill wrote:
>
> > Does anyone have a quick answer to this student question?
> >
> > " When you consume too much alcohol and close your eyes you feel dizzy.
> > What causes this sensation and why does opening your eyes help to reduce
> > this feeling?"
>
> There's a great answer to this question, courtesy of one-time
> TIPSter Don McBurney (who regrettably seems to have bailed out,
> apparently no longer able to put up with some of our more inane
> discussions).
>
> In an old edition of his book _Introduction to
> Sensation/Perception_ (1977, p. 177) and probably in newer
> editions as well, he discusses the work of Canadian physiologist
> and astronaut Ken Money (although I'm not sure if he actually
> made it into space).
>
> The usual thought is that the dizziness is a central nervous
> system neural effect of the alcohol. Not so, according to Money
> and Myles (1975). They used heavy water (like ordinary water but
> just a tad heavier (duh!)). Subjects who drank it produced a type
> of nystagmus (pattern of regular eye-flicks) when they tilted
> their heads, a sign of stimulation of the vestibular (balance)
> system. M & M explained this as due to the heavy water quickly
> diffusing through the body, and into the cupula (the sensory
> mechanism of the vestibular system), before it reached other
> parts of the semicircular canals. Accoring to McBurney's summary,
> "As a result, the cupula becomes heavier than the fluid in the
> canal and therefore responds anomalously when the head is
> tilted."
>
> Heavy water isn't alcohol. Alcohol isn't heavy, it's light.
> Alcohol also differentially diffuses into the cupula, but this
> time it makes it lighter. The result is a nystagmus in the
> opposite direction. Apparently M & M clinched the interpretation
> by a mathematical analysis fully supported by their observations.
>
> Bottom line: alcohol changes the mechanical action of the
> peripheral apparatus which senses head tilt. So when you move
> your head, you get dizzy. At this point McBurney makes a great
> observation. He says you have a number of options to avoid
> dizziness. You could mix your drinks with heavy water, and the
> effects will cancel, but (in 1997) the amount of heavy water
> needed would set you back about $10 per shot of whiskey. Or you
> could keep your head still. Or you could not drink.
>
> I'll drink to that.
>
> Whoops! Almost forgot the tag question posed by Bill. Vestibular
> sensations are strongly inhibited by vision, and most experiments
> on the vestibular sense require the subject to be blindfolded. So
> it's reasonable that you'd feel the anomalous effects of alcohol
> more strongly when your eyes are closed.
>
> -Stephen
>
> Money, K., & Myles, W. (1975). Motion sickness and other
> vestibulo-gastric illnesses. In: R. Naunton (Ed). The
> vestibular system. Academic Press, pp. 371-77.
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Stephen Black, Ph.D. tel: (819) 822-9600 ext 2470
> Department of Psychology fax: (819) 822-9661
> Bishop's University e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Lennoxville, QC
> J1M 1Z7
> Canada Department web page at http://www.ubishops.ca/ccc/div/soc/psy
> Check out TIPS listserv for teachers of psychology at:
> http://www.frostburg.edu/dept/psyc/southerly/tips/
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
