Buzz: The Science and Lore of Alcohol and Caffeine

225 Pages·1996·8.79 MB·English

by  Stephen Braun

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Oxford University Press
Oxford New York
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Copyright © 1996 by Stephen Braun.
Published by Oxford University Press, hie.
198 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016
Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,
or transmitted, in any form or means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording,
or otherwise, without the prior permission of Oxford University Press,
Library ot Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Braun, Stephen.
Buzz : the .science; and lore of alcohol and caffeine /
by Stephen Braun,
p. em. Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-19-509289-9
I. Alcohol—Popular works. 2. Caffeine-—-Popular works.
}. Title.
QP80LAW3 1996
61 $'.7828—dc20 95-47790
The author and publisher thank the following for permission to repnni specified material:
From One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish by Dr. Seuss. T'M and copyright © I960 and
renewed 1988 by Dr. Seuss Enterprises, L.P, Reprinted by permission of Random House, Inc.
Fxcerptcd with permission ot Scribncr, a Division of Simon & Schuster, from A Moveable
Feast by Ernest Hemingway. Copyright © 1964 by Mary Hemingway. Copyright renewed 1992
by John II. Hemingway, Patrick Hemingway, and Crcgory Hemingway.
987654321
Printed in the United States of America
on acid free paper
To the memory of
Robert Arnold Braun
Shaman, Scientist, Father
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The idea for this book germinated during a fellowship in neu-
robiology at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole,
Massachusetts. There I was introduced to a radical new un-
derstanding of the brain and the way it works—and there, too,
I saw clearly for the first time how substances such as alcohol
and caffeine could affect the machinery of the mind. I am
indebted to Irwin Levitan, the scientist in charge of the lab in
which I was a student, for his patient explanations, steadfast
encouragement, and infectious enthusiasm for ncurosciencc.
To the MBL I owe thanks as well, for offering science journal-
viii / Acknowledgments
ists such a unique opportunity to experience science by doing
it, rather than simply reporting it.
Buzz has benefited tremendously from the keen-eyed review
of many scientists, foremost among them is Steven N. Treist-
man, who carefully and thoughtfully read the entire manuscript
and who was an unflagging supporter of the project from day
one. In addition, the following scientists took time from busy
schedules to read selected chapters or chapter portions: Gary
Kaplan, Thomas Dunwiddie, Barry Green, Robert Greene, and
Annette Rossingnol. Other scientists helped by answering often
lengthy lists of questions and by providing copies of papers on
relevant subjects. My thanks to Robert D. Blitzer, Joseph
Brand, James Brundagc, Michael Charncss, John Daly, Da-
vid Lovinger, Quentin Regcstein, Forrest Weight, and Mark
Whitehead.
For the excellent molecular models included in the book, I
thank Joe Gambino of the University of Massachusetts Medical
Center. The superb line drawings of ion channels and the neu-
ronal synapse are the work of Ann Bliss Pilchcr.
I am grateful to Howie Frazin and Lynn Prowitt for deftly
finding the confusing parts and helping me clarify them. My
editor at Oxford University Press, Kirk Jensen, provided inval-
uable guidance and repeatedly led me to the correct voice for
the book. I am also most grateful to copy editor Gail Weiss,
whose many valuable suggestions improved Buzz considerably.
Finally, my heartfelt thanks to Mary Anna Towler for teach-
ing me to write; to Steve Pilcher, Tim Braun, and Doug Beyers
for invaluable lessons in perceptual relativity; to Oralec Stiles
for the fabulous quote; and, above all, to my wife, Susan Red-
ditt, for patience far beyond the call of duty. Were it not for
her loving support in matters great and small, this book would
not have been possible.
Introduction, 3
1. Alcohol 101, 8
2. Down the Hatch, 20
3. Your Brain on Alcohol, 38