How Alcohol Impairs the Brain

Over 51.5% of adult American citizens are frequent alcohol drinkers. Added to the 13.5% of adults who drink frequently, that is a total of 65%. It is now more important than ever to understand the effects of drinking. Below explains how it impairs the brain.

Brownouts and Blackouts

Like every alcohol effect, memory loss or partial memory loss episodes depend on several factors. Susceptibility depends on a person's age, gender, race, and genetic background. What has been established is that a leading cause for brownouts and blackouts is alcohol consumption rate and the resulting concentration of alcohol in the individual's blood stream. Alcohol decreases the brain's ability to do more than one thing at a time. When it comes to priorities, the brain will choose to maintain simple functions such as walking, breathing, and even talking, before it codes events into the memory processors of the brain. The result is memory loss.

Aside from the psychological consequences of not remembering a night out, or making bad choices due to lack of proper processing, memory loss serves as a red flag for more harmful conditions. First, it can be the result of a developing or established addiction to alcohol. Second, it can indicate more permanent memory coding process damage. Depending on the severity, frequency, and length of consumption, this damage can range from temporary lapses to the complete inability to remember anything.

Increased Stimulation

As the levels of alcohol rise, so does the level of norepinephrine. This neurotransmitter is responsible for such things as excitement, sexual arousal, happiness, energy, and other feelings and emotions associated with stimulation. This temporary boost is quickly deflated when blood alcohol levels decrease, leaving the individual more depressed and tired due to the abnormally low levels of norepinephrine present during post-intoxication. The more frequent and the longer a person drinks, the worse the post-symptoms are, and the more at risk they are to permanent damage in the norepinephrine release process.

Addiction and Withdrawal

Change in release and absorption processes is not limited to norepinephrine production. For example, the brain relies on blood sugar for fuel, but alcohol reduces blood sugar. As an alternative, the brain utilizes acetic acid which is present in the blood of someone who is drinking. After a while, the brain will constantly rely on acetic acid. When someone stops drinking, the body will not automatically utilize blood sugar. The result is that the brain will not get fuel and the consumer will suffer withdrawal symptoms such as dehydration, shaking, irritability, headaches, lack of energy, and even seizures. In the most severe cases of substance abuse, the brain is not able to transition back to using blood sugar as fuel, and long term acetate supplements are required.

Alcohol-Related Deaths

Excluding alcohol-related liver disease deaths, accidents, and homicides, there is still an alcohol-related death rate of over 25,000 Americans a year. These deaths are associated with things like brownouts, blackouts, stimulation, and addiction and withdrawal. How many of these people would have put themselves at risk if they had known how alcohol impairs the brain. Meta: How alcohol impairs the brain is one of the many dangerous effects of alcohol abuse. These effects include blackouts, stimulation, addiction, and withdrawal.