Drunken Studies

No, I'm not at school yet, and no, I haven't been, nor do I intend to be drunk. However, the title seemed to fit one of the most intersting studies I've ever heard about. Rick, who also works with Elizabeth, and comes in and checks his e-mail at the computer next to the one I work on, was telling me about a study that he got approved through Human Services that involves getting people drunk. The idea is to see what goes on in the brain when people are drunk, since we know more about FAS, and the long term effects of alcohol abuse and alcohol dementia but not really what happens when people are currently drunk. So he decided that getting people drunk, sticking them in the scanner, and having them do some cognitive tasks would be really interesting. And while it is really interesting, the most interesting part to me is that it got approved! It would never have occurred to study drunk people because I didn't think it would be allowed. Of course, he's got a lot of limitations, like people can't leave for three hours after the scans, which gives him time to do some more tests outside the scanner, and then they'll just watch movies or something. And he's only going to do men, because a man getting women drunk could be a bad idea. But still, it got approved. And I'm still slightly amazed. Although, considering that the Medical Center is right next to the university, I can't foresee there being any lack of subjects! ;) Anyway, I thought that was really interesting, and thought I would share. Any of you want to participate in a study? ;)