It’s no secret that alcohol has numerous effects on your brain – beyond creating the illusion that you are the most interesting and attractive person (and the best dancer) in the room. Whether you drink a little or a lot, alcohol has profound effects on different parts of your brain.
The more you drink, the more obvious the effects become, ranging from a slight sense of relaxation and happiness (a buzz) to stupor, coma and death when blood alcohol content reaches a level of .50 or higher. Let’s take a look at how alcohol affects each part of your brain and, subsequently, your behavior and bodily functions.
Cerebral Cortex
The cerebral cortex is the highest order region of your brain – it controls your speech and thought processes, interprets the information from your senses and controls most of your voluntary responses. Drinking interferes with the cells in this part of the brain, reducing your inhibitions and making you more talkative and outgoing. At the same time, though, it dulls your senses, and your ability to make good decisions decreases substantially.
Limbic System
Made up of the hippocampus and the septal area, the limbic system is the part of the brain that controls your emotions and memory. When you drink enough to affect this area, you might experience extreme emotions – sometimes switching wildly between conflicting emotions – and have trouble remembering things.
Cerebellum
The cerebellum is the region of the brain that controls movement, both voluntary muscle movements like walking and involuntary muscle movements that affect your balance. Someone who has enough to drink to affect this part of the brain is often called “falling down drunk” and has trouble completing even simple movements. Those who have consumed enough alcohol to affect the cerebellum will fail common sobriety tests like touching the nose with one finger or walking a straight line.
Hypothalamus and Pituitary Gland
You’ve probably heard that alcohol dehydrates you – and can affect you sexually. That’s thanks to these two centers of the brain. The hypothalamus affects sexual arousal and performance, but when you add alcohol, the results can be disappointing. Alcohol depresses the functions of the hypothalamus, hampering your ability to perform. When alcohol reaches the pituitary gland, it signals your kidneys to excrete more water, making you have to urinate more. The more you pee, the more dehydrated you get.
Brain Stem
The medulla, or brain stem, controls everything your body does without you thinking about it – breathing, heart rate, circulation, etc. As your blood alcohol level increases, it begins to affect your medulla, making you feel sleepy. If the BAC is high enough, you’ll “pass out,” or even lose consciousness. If your blood alcohol content gets too high, it will affect your heart rate, breathing and body temperature – a potentially fatal condition.
The more you drink, the more obvious the effects become, ranging from a slight sense of relaxation and happiness (a buzz) to stupor, coma and death when blood alcohol content reaches a level of .50 or higher. Let’s take a look at how alcohol affects each part of your brain and, subsequently, your behavior and bodily functions.
Alcohol and the Nervous System
When you have a drink, the alcohol affects your central nervous system more than any other organs or tissues. The alcohol changes the way your nerve cells interact with all the other cells in your body. Because alcohol is a sedative, it inhibits the excitatory nerve cells, making you appear sluggish, slur your words or act “drunk.” At the same time, alcohol causes an increase in the inhibitory nerve pathways of the brain, causing even more sluggishness.How Alcohol Affects the Brain
Drinking alcohol affects every part of the human brain. The amount of alcohol you drink determines the severity of the effects; the more you consume, the more you affect the various regions of the brain. Alcohol affects the brain in the same order in every person: starting with the cerebral cortex or outer layer of the brain, then the limbic system, the cerebellum, the hypothalamus and pituitary gland and finally, the brain stem.Cerebral Cortex
The cerebral cortex is the highest order region of your brain – it controls your speech and thought processes, interprets the information from your senses and controls most of your voluntary responses. Drinking interferes with the cells in this part of the brain, reducing your inhibitions and making you more talkative and outgoing. At the same time, though, it dulls your senses, and your ability to make good decisions decreases substantially.
Limbic System
Made up of the hippocampus and the septal area, the limbic system is the part of the brain that controls your emotions and memory. When you drink enough to affect this area, you might experience extreme emotions – sometimes switching wildly between conflicting emotions – and have trouble remembering things.
Cerebellum
The cerebellum is the region of the brain that controls movement, both voluntary muscle movements like walking and involuntary muscle movements that affect your balance. Someone who has enough to drink to affect this part of the brain is often called “falling down drunk” and has trouble completing even simple movements. Those who have consumed enough alcohol to affect the cerebellum will fail common sobriety tests like touching the nose with one finger or walking a straight line.
Hypothalamus and Pituitary Gland
You’ve probably heard that alcohol dehydrates you – and can affect you sexually. That’s thanks to these two centers of the brain. The hypothalamus affects sexual arousal and performance, but when you add alcohol, the results can be disappointing. Alcohol depresses the functions of the hypothalamus, hampering your ability to perform. When alcohol reaches the pituitary gland, it signals your kidneys to excrete more water, making you have to urinate more. The more you pee, the more dehydrated you get.
Brain Stem
The medulla, or brain stem, controls everything your body does without you thinking about it – breathing, heart rate, circulation, etc. As your blood alcohol level increases, it begins to affect your medulla, making you feel sleepy. If the BAC is high enough, you’ll “pass out,” or even lose consciousness. If your blood alcohol content gets too high, it will affect your heart rate, breathing and body temperature – a potentially fatal condition.
