Study drinking alcohol constantly makes you stupid

New study: Too much alcohol makes you stupid - Cognitive abilities decrease

16/01/2014

There are several studies that have looked at the effects of alcohol consumption on human brain performance in the past. Almost all come to the conclusion that too much alcohol causes the brain to age faster and leads to a reduction in cognitive abilities.

This is also the conclusion of a recent study by researchers from Great Britain and the USA. For the study, the drinking behavior of a total of 5054 men and 2099 women in the average age of 56 years were examined more closely. Scientists focused on men who drink more than 36 grams of alcohol; which corresponds to about 0.75 liters of beer or 0.4 liters of wine. Their results were published in the journal „Neurlogy“.

The researchers found that cognitive abilities decreased by one and a half to six years faster than in a peer group of abstinent men who drank only moderately. Cognitive abilities generally mean any activity that is used to process knowledge and that is processed on the basis of sensory stimuli. To this end, cognitive abilities include all perceptions on an intellectual and intellectual basis, as a result of which new memory contents are produced.

The results of the study also showed that there is no difference in the memory of non-drinkers and men who consume less than 20 grams of alcohol. According to study author Séverine Sabia from University College in London, heavy alcohol consumption leads to a faster decline in brain performance in men. But those who think that only the male brain is affected by it is wrong. Women also experience a decline in cognitive function. The researchers calculated an average of 2.4 years. However, based on other valuation principles, the result is considered by the scientists to be insignificant enough.

In the long run, consuming too much alcohol can also damage the body. Possible consequences of excessive and prolonged consumption of alcohol may cause liver diseases such as, a (hepatitis) or even liver cirrhosis.

Strong alcohol consumption in adolescence leads to similar results
But not only people of middle age have to accept losses. A larger 2010 study on over-consumption of alcohol in adolescence also showed that too much alcohol leads to changes in brain structure. In this study, the results in the journal „Science Daily“ were published, the young people went through various psychological tests that assessed the cognitive abilities. At that time, it was found that adolescents with high levels of alcohol consumption performed significantly worse in the tests. The subjects were given tasks for attention and executive functions, including complex mental functions such as planning, problem solving and action control, ie also conscious controls, which are summarized as cognitive functions. (Fr)