Even small amounts of alcohol affect the memory

Effect of alcohol on memory?

The consumption of alcohol can lead to negative consequences for body and mind. Researchers have now found that even small amounts of alcohol affect memory for several hours and also greatly affect our reward center in the brain.

The researchers at Brown University found in their recent research that even a single alcoholic drink can worsen memory for hours. The physicians published the results of their study in the English-language journal "Neuron".

Research was done on fruit flies

A single molecular change could explain why some glasses of wine already affect memory for several days, and why alcoholics relapse after decades of abstinence, say the scientists. In their research, the experts used fruit flies to understand how alcohol affects the brain. In doing so, they discovered a hitherto unknown pathway through which alcohol alters certain regions of our brain that are associated with positive experiences and cravings.

Alcohol disturbs the reward center

While flies have much fewer neurons than humans, they still share some key features. One of the areas disturbed by alcohol is the key to the way animals store and process rewarding experiences. This may help to explain why the harm of addict alcohol is ignored and accepted. Drugs such as alcohol, opiates, cocaine and methamphetamine have strong side effects. For example, alcohol often causes nausea and a hangover the next morning. Why do people still drink alcohol anyway and accept these effects for a rush, the scientists wondered.

Notch-Weg played an important role

The physicians tried to understand at the molecular level what influence drugs and alcohol have on memory and our memories and why they sometimes cause a real cravings. By studying flies that were used to alcohol, researchers were able to monitor the neural pathways and genetic signals that lit up when they developed a craving. A key system was a group of cellular mechanisms that play a crucial role in the development of the brain and nervous system of many living things (including fruit flies and humans) known as the so-called Notch pathway. In the cell, it works like a chain of dominoes, starting with an initial Notch receptor that triggers a chain of other cellular processes by activating it, explain the experts.

Dopamine receptor was affected

In alcoholic flies, the experts found that exposure to alcohol resulted in changes in the Notch cascade. One change involved the effect of a large receptor molecule on nerve cells, which helps detect dopamine. This dopamine receptor is known to be involved in coding whether a memory is stored as compliant or aversive, say the authors of the study.

How do some glasses of wine affect the metabolic pathway??

If the process is similar in humans, a glass of wine is enough to activate the metabolic pathway. However, within one hour this process then normalizes again. After three glasses, with one hour each break between consumption, the way does not normalize after 24 hours. The researchers think that this persistence probably changes gene expression in memory circuits. This is also likely to apply to other forms of addiction if the results can be applied to humans.

Alcohol can control memory mechanisms

This study indicates that drug addiction and alcoholism persist because memory mechanisms have been influenced by alcohol and drugs, and have been taken over and controlled. The study not only provides a model for understanding the persistence of drug addiction, it also identifies potential pharmacological targets for the treatment of addiction. (As)