Get How Does Alcohol Affect Your Brain? - Big Think

The Frontal Lobes: The frontal lobes of our brain are responsible for cognition, thought, memory, and judgment. By inhibiting its effects, alcohol impairs nearly every one of these functions. The hippocampus: The hippocampus forms and stores memory. Alcohol's impact on the hippocampus leads to memory loss.

An analysis of data from more than 36,000 adults, led by a team from the University of Pennsylvania, found that light-to-moderate alcohol consumption was associated with reductions in overall brain volume. The link grew stronger the greater the level of alcohol consumption, the researchers showed.

Damage to nerve cells If a person regularly drinks too much alcohol it can be toxic to their nerve cells. Over time, drinking too much alcohol can cause brain cells to die and a person's brain tissue to shrink. This means there are fewer cells to carry the messages that the brain needs to do different tasks.

One of the first areas affected as intoxication develops is the frontal cortex–leading to loss of judgement. Unsteady gait: the cerebellum, located underneath in the back of the brain, controls balance and coordination.

Alcohol interferes with the brain's communication pathways, and can affect the way the brain looks and works. These disruptions can change mood and behavior, and make it harder to think clearly and move with coordination.

Helps you think more clearly An earlier study found that light to moderate drinking can actually help relax your brain and get you thinking more clearly. It was even found to help people not overthink and come to better, more thought-out solutions.

The cerebellum, an area of the brain responsible for coordinating movement and perhaps even some forms of learning, appears to be particularly sensitive to the effects of thiamine deficiency and is the region most frequently damaged in association with chronic alcohol consumption.