How Does Alcohol Affect the Brain

Alcoholism

            Alcohol is the most common abused drug.  It affects a neurons synapse by altering neuron membranes, ion channels, enzymes, and receptors.  It binds directly to gamma aminobutyric acid causing neuron activity to diminish.   Drinking alcohol as an adolescent can have harmful long term, irreversible effects, since the frontal lobe develops until the age of sixteen and a high rate of energy is used in the brain until the age of twenty.

            There are two types of alcoholism.   Type I Alcoholism usually develops after the age of twenty-five gradually and is not determined genetically. What usually triggers people to become a type I alcoholic is setbacks in life. Type II alcoholism usually occurs before the age of twenty five and is usually genetic.  Type II alcoholism is more severe than type I since victims usually drink regardless of what’s happening in their lives.   Genes can influence alcoholism by producing less sensitive dopamine receptor.

            Many people do not realize the damage alcohol does to the brain.  The brain is a very unique part of our body, and most damage that occurs in the brain is irreversible.  For example, excessive drinking over a certain amount of time can cause serious cognitive and memory problems. 

 The video below gives more of an explanation as to how alcohol affects the parts of the brain from doing their usual tasks.  This video also explains why you might act a certain way when you have had a glass of an alcoholic beverage.