A night of binge drinking can obviously put you past the threshold of functioning properly to the point where you black out and when you wake up, you have no idea how you got home or what you did the night before. However, there are more effects on memory loss that stem from the use of alcohol that are more long term.

Young people that binge drink are not only risking possible damage to the brain now, but it may increase memory loss later when they are adults. Adolescents are more at risk to brain damage from too much drinking than people that are older. According to research on laboratory rats, the binge drinking adolescent rats exhibited more memory loss, having a harder time finding their way through a maze that they had been trained to go through than the older rats, making more errors. It is because of experiments like these that researchers think that this is an implication on the effects of alcohol has on heavy drinking teens and their potential for memory loss.

Heavy alcohol consumption eventually has an effect on the day-to-day memory function and can even makes a person forget simple daily activities such as forgetting what you are saying in the middle of a sentence, forgetting to send a birthday card or retelling a story that you don't even realize you have told before. This is more predominantly noticed in people that drink heavily rather than those who do not drink at all or consume alcohol minimally.

Alcohol mostly affects the ability to form new long-term memories. When alcohol consumption increases, so does the increase of memory impairments. Very few behaviors and cognitive functions can escape the impacts alcohol has on the body. Alcohol creates a disruption in the brain that is able to transfer short term memories into long term memories that are stored longer in the brain and also impacts functioning. Therefore, alcohol interferes with the retrieval process when we go back to recall something from our long-term memory bank. If recreational drugs were compared to tools, alcohol would be a sledgehammer.

Once alcohol is consumed, the body instantly begins to metabolize it. Through the chemical process, effects within the brain result in an impairment on calcium channels. Brain cells rely heavily upon these channels to communicate with other cells. This is devastating to the proper functioning of the central nervous system, which includes the brain. Additionally, the brain receives less oxygen when alcohol is present in the body. Eventually, the hippocampus is disrupted and results in memory loss over an extended period of time.

Additionally, researchers have tested the relationship between alcohol consumption and dementia in people aged 65 and older. If a person had drank 14 or more servings of alcohol, they have an increase in dementia risk. Dementia is the process that is typically found in aging people and is a degenerative disease that results in the loss of memory.

These are just some pieces of evidence that conclude that the use of alcohol consistently effects recollection and processing of information. How to quit drinking now website has a great article on the memory and fantastic lesson on how to quit drinking to avoid memory loss or any further deterioration of the brain. Alcohol consumption has long term effects if consumed throughout a person's lifespan and we think this site will be very helpful.

Next: Alcohol & Memory Loss