The brain is particularly sensitive to alcohol during the period of its rapid growth. To better understand the mechanism(s) involved, we studied ethanol effects on glycine-activated responses of ventral tegmental area (VTA) neurons isolated from the newborn rat, using whole cell and gramicidin perforated patch-clamp techniques. Previously we reported that 0.1-40m M ethanol enhances glycineinduced responses of 35% of VTA neurons (Ye et al. 2001). We now direct our attention to the inhibitory effects of ethanol observed in 45% (312 of 694) of neonatal VTA neurons. Under current-clamp conditions, 1 mM ethanol had no effect on the membrane potential of these cells, but it decreased glycine-induced membrane depolarization and the frequency of spontaneous action potentials. Under voltageclamp conditions, 0.1-10 mM ethanol did not elicit a current but depressed the glycine-induced currents. The ethanol-induced inhibition of glycine current was independent of membrane potential (between 260 and 160 mV). Likewise, ethanol did not alter the reversal potential of the glycine-activated currents. Ethanol-mediated inhibition of glycine current depended on the glycine concentration. While ethanol strongly depressed currents activated by 30μM glycine, it had no appreciable effect on maximal currents activated by 1 mM glycine. In the presence of ethanol (1 mM), the EC50 for glycine increased from 32±5 to 60±3μM. Thus ethanol may decrease the agonist affinity of glycine receptors. A kinetic analysis indicated that ethanol shortens the time constant of glycine current deactivation but has no effect on activation. In conclusion, by altering VTA neuronal function, ethanol-induced changes in glycine receptors may contribute to neurobehavioral manifestations of the fetal alcohol syndrome.