The effects of alcohol

on the brain

Chelu Ioana-Andreea
Petrea Andreea
ALCOHOL’S DAMAGING EFFECTS ON
THE BRAIN

 Clearly, alcohol affects the

Difficulty walking brain. Some of these
impairments are detectable
blurred vision after only one or two drinks
and quickly resolve when
slurred speech
drinking stops. On the other
slowed reaction times hand, a person who drinks
heavily over a long period of
impaired memory time may have brain deficits
that persist well after he or
she achieves sobriety.
Occasional Drinkers

 In occasional drinkers, alcohol can produce one or

more short-term effects after one or more drinks.
Memory impairment can begin after a few drinks, and
it can become increasingly worse as the consumption
increases. A high volume of alcohol consumption,
especially on an empty stomach, can result in a
blackout. However, there are numerous dangerous
associated with acute alcohol intoxication, such as
engaging in reckless activities like unprotected sex,
vandalism, and driving
 Moderate
Drinkers
A moderate drinker to be a
person who consumes:
 one drink (applies to
women)
 two drinks (applies to men)
per day.
Despite extensive news
coverage of medical reports
that moderate drinking has
positive health benefits, the
guidelines advise that this is
not a reason to start drinking.
Moderate alcohol consumption
has negative associations, such
as increasing the risk of breast
cancer and causing violence,
falls, drownings, and car
accidents. Moderate drinking
does not insulate a person from
the cognitive impairment
associated with drinking and
the dangerous consequences
that can result.
Heavy and Chronic
Drinking
 Most heavy long-term alcohol users will
experience a mild to moderate
impairment of intellectual functioning
as well as diminished brain size. The
most common impairments relate to
the ability to think abstractly as well as
the ability to perceive and remember
the location of objects in two- and
three-dimensional space (visuospatial
abilities).
In addition, there are numerous brain
disorders associated with chronic
alcohol abuse. For example, research
supports that up to 80 percent of
chronic alcohol users have a thiamine
deficiency, and some in this group will
progress to a serious brain disorder
known as Wernicke”Korsakoff syndrome
(WKS).
Wernicke–Korsakoff Syndrome

 The symptoms of Wernicke’s encephalopathy include

mental confusion, paralysis of the nerves that move the
eyes (i.e., oculomotor disturbances), and difficulty with
muscle coordination. For example, patients with
Wernicke’s encephalopathy may be too confused to find
their way out of a room or may not even be able to walk.
 Patients with Korsakoff’s psychosis are forgetful and quickly
frustrated and have difficulty with walking and
coordination . Although these patients have problems
remembering old information ( retrograde amnesia), it is
their difficulty in “laying down” new information (
anterograde amnesia) that is the most striking. For
example, these patients can discuss in detail an event in
their lives, but an hour later might not remember ever
having the conversation.
LIVER DISEASE
 But people may not be aware that prolonged liver
dysfunction, such as liver cirrhosis resulting from
excessive alcohol consumption, can harm the brain,
leading to a serious and potentially fatal brain
disorder known as hepatic encephalopathy (20).
 Hepatic encephalopathy can cause changes in sleep
patterns, mood, and personality; psychiatric
conditions such as anxiety and depression; severe
cognitive effects such as shortened attention span;
and problems with coordination such as a flapping or
shaking of the hands (called asterixis). In the most
serious cases, patients may slip into a coma (i.e.,
hepatic coma), which can be fatal
Alcohol affects the different
regions of the brain in
different ways
 Cerebral cortex: In this region, where thought processing and
consciousness are centered, alcohol depresses the behavioral
inhibitory centers, making the person less inhibited; it slows down the
processing of information from the eyes, ears, mouth and other
senses; and it inhibits the thought processes, making it difficult to
think clearly.
 Cerebellum: Alcohol affects this center of movement
and balance, resulting in the staggering, off-balance
swagger we associate with the so-called "falling-down
drunk."
 Hypothalamus and pituitary: The hypothalamus and
pituitary coordinate automatic brain functions and
hormone release. Alcohol depresses nerve centers in the
hypothalamus that control sexual arousal and
performance. Although sexual urge may increase, sexual
performance decreases
 Medulla: This area of the brain handles such automatic
functions as breathing, consciousness and body
temperature. By acting on the medulla, alcohol induces
sleepiness. It can also slow breathing and lower body
temperature, which can be life threatening.
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