This article represents the proceedings of a symposium at the 2002 RSA Meeting in San Francisco, California, organized and co-chaired by L. Judson Chandler and Richard A. Morrisett. The presentations were (1) PKA regulates chronic ethanol-induced synaptic targeting of NMDA receptors, by L. Judson Chandler; (2) Long-lasting potentiation of GABAergic synapses in dopamine neurons after a single in vivo ethanol exposure, by Antonello Bonci; (3) The DARPP-32 cascade and regulation of the ethanol sensitivity of NMDA receptors in the nucleus accumbens, by Richard A. Morrisett; (4) and The cAMP/PKA signal transduction pathway modulates ethanol consumption and sedative effects of ethanol, by Gary S. Wand.