Health Topics: Alcohol-Induced Blackouts National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism NIAAA
In a typical LTP experiment, two electrodes (A and B) are lowered into a slice of hippocampal tissue kept alive by bathing it in oxygenated artificial cerebral spinal fluid (ACSF). A small amount yellow eyes alcohol of current is passed through electrode A, causing the neurons in this area to send signals to cells located near electrode B. Electrode B then is used to record how the cells in the area respond to the incoming signals.
Research indicates that blackouts are more likely to occur when alcohol enters the bloodstream quickly, causing the BAC to rise rapidly. This could happen if someone drinks on an empty stomach or consumes large amounts of alcohol in a short amount of time. Because females, on average, weigh less than males and, pound for pound, have less water in their bodies, they tend to reach higher peak BAC levels than males with each drink and do so more quickly. This helps explain why being female appears to be a risk factor for having blackouts. There are two types of blackouts; they are defined by the severity of the memory impairment.
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Next, a specific pattern of stimulation intended to model the pattern of activity that might occur during an actual learning event is delivered through electrode A. When the original stimulus that elicited the baseline response is delivered again through electrode A, the response recorded at electrode B is larger (i.e., potentiated). In other words, as a result of the patterned input, cells at position B now are more responsive to signals sent from cells at position A. The potentiated response often lasts for an extended period of time, hence the term long-term potentiation. Blacking out drunk isn’t necessarily a sign of alcoholism or alcohol use disorder. However, regularly blacking out could indicate that someone is struggling with problematic or compulsive drinking.
White and colleagues (2002c) recently surveyed 772 undergraduates regarding their experiences with blackouts. Respondents who answered yes to the question “Have you ever awoken after a night of drinking not able to remember things that you did or places that you went? Fifty-one percent of the students who had ever consumed alcohol reported blacking out at some point in their lives, and 40 percent reported experiencing a blackout in the year before the survey. Of those who had consumed alcohol during the 2 weeks before the survey, 9.4 percent reported blacking out during this period. Students in the study reported that they later learned that they had participated in a wide range of events they did not remember, including such significant activities as vandalism, unprotected intercourse, driving an automobile, and spending money.
Blackouts: State-Dependent Memory Formation?
According to data from the 2021 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, among the 133.1 million people who consumed alcohol in the U.S., roughly 45% had participated in binge drinking in the last month. During a blackout, an entire section of the what is the drinking age in russia brain (the hippocampus, which is responsible for long-term memories) experiences a neurophysiological, chemical disruption and completely shuts down. “This creates a temporary void in the record-keeping system.” Memories lost in a blackout will never come back, because the information wasn’t stored in the first place. Temporary blackouts are probably due to temporary disruption of theta rhythm input to the hippocampus. Approximately 50 percent of college students who drink have experienced a blackout.
Who is Most At Risk for Blacking Out?
Estimates of BAC levels during blackout periods suggested that they often began at levels around 0.20 percent and as low as 0.14 percent. Based on his observations, Ryback concluded that a key predictor of blackouts was the rate at which subjects consumed their drinks. He stated, “It is important to note that all the blackout periods occurred after a rapid rise in blood alcohol level” (p. 622). The two subjects who did not black out, despite becoming extremely intoxicated, experienced slow increases in blood alcohol levels. A general model of memory formation, storage, and retrieval based on the modal model of memory originally proposed by Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968). Alcohol seems to influence most stages of smack drug the process to some degree, but its primary effect appears to be on the transfer of information from short-term to long-term storage.
White and Best administered several doses of alcohol in this study, ranging from 0.5 g/kg to 1.5 g/kg. (Only one of the experiments is represented in figure 3.) They found that the dose affected the degree of pyramidal cell suppression. Although 0.5 g/kg did not produce a significant change in the firing of hippocampal pyramidal cells, 1.0 and 1.5 g/kg produced significant suppression of firing during a 1-hour testing session following alcohol administration.
There are two possible interpretations for these data, both of which support the hypothesis that some people are more susceptible to blackouts than others. A second interpretation is that subjects in the blackout group performed poorly during testing as a result of drinking enough in the past to experience alcohol-induced memory impairments. In other words, perhaps their prior exposure to alcohol damaged the brain in a way that predisposed them to experiencing future memory impairments. This latter possibility is made more likely by recent evidence that students who engage in repeated episodes of heavy, or binge, drinking are more likely than other students to exhibit memory impairments when they are intoxicated (Weissenborn and Duka 2000).
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The more serious type is an “en bloc” blackout, or completely forgetting what happened. While anyone who drinks is at risk for alcohol blackouts, there are some factors that put people in greater danger of drinking and not remembering things. Women’s hormones and body composition mean they become intoxicated with less alcohol than men, which is why the definition of binge drinking differs between men and women. Because women’s BAC rises faster, they are at greater risk for blackouts. Modern neuroimaging techniques, such as positron emission tomography (PET) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), provide incredible opportunities for investigating the impact of drugs like alcohol on brain function during the performance of cognitive tasks. The use of these techniques will no doubt yield important information regarding the mechanisms underlying alcohol-induced memory impairments in the coming years.
And the higher blood alcohol levels reach, the more likely a person will black out. The more genetically susceptible an individual is, the less alcohol is required to black out. You may feel fine or functional while drinking and will only realize you have memory loss after the fact.
- (Only one of the experiments is represented in figure 3.) They found that the dose affected the degree of pyramidal cell suppression.
- On the other hand, passing out is a loss of consciousness due to excessive drinking.
- Blackouts are much more common among social drinkers than previously assumed and should be viewed as a potential consequence of acute intoxication regardless of age or whether one is clinically dependent upon alcohol.
- However, the next day there will be no memory of those things, so it’s as if they didn’t really happen.
- Alcohol interferes with the activation of the NMDA receptor, thereby preventing the influx of calcium and the changes that follow (Swartzwelder et al. 1995).
Neural activity returned to near-normal levels within about 7 hours of alcohol administration. To evaluate the effects of alcohol, or any other drug, on memory, one must first identify a model of memory formation and storage to use as a reference. This model often is referred to as the modal model of memory, as it captures key elements of several other major models. Indeed, elements of this model still can be seen in virtually all models of memory formation.
People who are drunk or blacked out are more likely to try illicit drugs than they would be sober. In a 2004 study published in the American Journal of Alcohol and Drug Abuse, only one out of 50 college students who had experienced a blackout said they blacked out after drinking beer alone. People who experience a fragmentary blackout may think they can’t remember what happened the night before, but their memory comes back when someone or something reminds them.
He is the author of numerous books, including From Bud to Brain and Marijuana on My Mind. Some groups have a higher risk and should use special care when consuming alcoholic beverages.
