Acute effects of ethanol on spectral characteristics of the EEG were studied using 18 recording sites and topographic mapping. The EEG was recorded both at rest and during a mental arithmetic task. Healthy young male volunteers were randomly assigned to an ethanol (n = 22) or a placebo (n = 15) group. The ethanol group received a total dose of 1.0 g/kg, divided into two equal doses given 75 minutes apart. and measurement sessions took place at baseline and after each dose. The placebo group underwent a similar schedule. Power in the theta, alpha and beta bands all increased in the ethanol group, but only the theta and beta bands clearly separated ethanol from placebo. Alpha increases were seen in the placebo group as well. The ethanol-induced changes were greater in the left hemisphere than in the right, having the effect of attenuating the right-over-left asymmetry seen at baseline. Differences between ethanol and placebo were more marked in the mentally activated condition, since the changes seen at rest were inhibited by the activation in the placebo group, but not in the ethanol group. The results indicate (1) that ethanol induces a less differentiated pattern of activity within the brain at rest, and (2) that it impairs the capacity to activate the brain under the challenge of a mental task.