This is how alcohol damages the brain

Man wrapped in cardboard brick wine next to it with the naked eye warns us of the physical and social destructive effects of alcohol. It is more difficult to detect damage that is not visible and yet is part of the causal chain that leads to this situation: the damage that is inflicted on the brain.

Most people could quickly describe the acute effects of alcohol: incoordination, disinhibition, impulsivity… Far fewer people could describe the chronic effects that respond to the same neurotoxic effects of alcohol on the brain.

Neuropsychological and neuroimaging studies show that three neural networks are particularly vulnerable: the fronto-cerebellar network, which controls gait and balance; fronto-limbic, associated with memory, motivation and self-awareness; and the frontostriatum, responsible for emotional regulation, inhibition, cognitive flexibility, and reward management.

Pay attention to these symptoms

But how do you know if the drinker has brain damage? People around you will notice that you are slower, easily distracted, more rigid, you have a poor memory, you make decisions without assessing the risks, you find it difficult to regulate your emotions and interpret others worse. And this affects their family, work and social life.

The good news is that if you stop smoking and abstain, your brain will show structural and functional improvements. Instead, as long as you keep drinking, your brain will age faster than normal.

Also, like blue whiting biting its own tail, your cognitive and emotional deficits will jeopardize your efforts to initiate and maintain abstinence. Medical staff should be aware that brain damage can be an obstacle to clinical treatment because it limits emotional self-regulation, motivation for change, interaction with others, emotional perception, and awareness of social dysfunctions.

Even when these difficulties are overcome and abstinence is achieved, it may come too late.

Honest lies and alcohol: Korsakov’s syndrome

This is the case with patients with Korsakoff’s syndrome. This residual and largely irreversible disorder occurs in one in two cases of Wernicke’s encephalopathy, a pathology caused by severe vitamin B1 or thiamine deficiency and more common in malnourished people who abuse alcohol. The prevalence is estimated to be between 25 and 50 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, and post-mortem studies indicate that it is underdiagnosed.

In this syndrome, damage affects an area of ​​the brain called the diencephalon, especially the mammillary bodies and thalamic nuclei. The deterioration manifests itself primarily in memory: patients suffer from an amnestic syndrome, accompanied, especially in the early stages, by confabulations. That is, the victim has false memories and is convinced that they are real. Called “honest lies”, they arise from a lack of memory access.

Teenagers and drinking

And what about the young? Does it take years of drinking to cause brain damage? If they only do it on weekends, nothing will happen to them? No, drinking five or more drinks over a period of several hours, at least once a month, is associated with impaired memory and executive skills that allow us to plan, control, and regulate our behavior in line with our goals and standards.

These difficulties respond to structural and functional changes at the brain level. Neuroimaging studies show neurofunctional impairments such as over-activation of neural networks when it is necessary to suppress the response to an alcoholic beverage. Differences in white and gray matter volume were also observed in different areas related to impulse control.

It should be taken into account that adolescence is a period of brain vulnerability, during which important changes occur in the structure and functional connectivity of neural networks. We should be concerned that alcohol is still perceived as the least dangerous drug among 14-18 year olds.

First involuntary drunkenness: fetal alcohol syndrome

But alcohol-related brain damage can begin long before adolescence—even before birth. Its consumption during pregnancy is the cause of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders, a completely preventable neurodevelopmental disorder.

There is no safe consumption during pregnancy. Alcohol use is associated with disorders of the central nervous system such as small head circumference, structural abnormalities of the brain, and neuropsychological disorders. All this will affect the development of intellectual abilities, cognitive functions and self-regulation of behavior.

Particularly vulnerable groups requiring special attention include children from intercountry adoptions, especially those from countries with high levels of alcohol consumption. A recent study in Spain shows that up to 50% of them meet the diagnostic criteria for the disorder. And every fifth victim manifests the most severe form: fetal alcohol syndrome.

It is necessary to inform the entire population about the risks to the fetus and support pregnant mothers who decide to stop drinking alcohol. And don’t forget to detect and intervene at an early stage to ensure adequate academic, psychological and social development of these children.

In short, if you want to take care of your brain health, no matter your age, the less alcohol the better.

The article was written on the recommendation of the Spanish Society of Epidemiology.

Montserrat Corral Varela, professor of neuropsychology at the University of Santiago de Compostela

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original.

We recommend you METADATA, an RPP technology podcast. News, analytics, reviews, recommendations and everything you need to know about the world of technology.