Almost everyone has tried alcohol at some stage, and many also use it as a regular basis in parties and other special occasions. When a small amount of alcohol is consumed, it stimulates the appetite and makes it easier for people to produce conversations and it also gives relaxation and good feelings. However excessive drinking can cause serious negative effects. Some of the negative effects are that the individual will start to talk loudly, make inappropriate statements, act aggressively and even pass out. The effect of alcohol on the brain is what causes all these noticeable changes in human behavior. Alcohol has the most noticeable effect on the brain. Alcohol acts like a sedative, which means you feel soothing and relaxing effects. This could make someone feel more relaxed, and end up making fools of themselves and doing things that they later regret.
Alcohol blocks the messages going to your brain, and alters your perceptions and emotions, vision, hearing, and coordination. When an individual consumes alcohol through the mouth, it firstly acts as an irritant and then an anesthetic. The stomach and intestinal lining absorbs the alcohol molecules, which are soluble in blood and carry them to the liver. While the liver metabolizes the alcohol the un-metabolized alcohol travels throughout the body. Since the alcohol molecules are very small, they will reach every cell in the body. Alcohol then depressed the functions of the body cells and the organs.
The most sensitive organ to alcohol is the brain. The psychoactive ingredient in alcohol in ethanol. Like all the other psychoactive ingredients, ethanol affects the neurotransmitters which are chemical messengers that are manufactured in your brain by neurons and that influence your behavior, thoughts, and feelings. Molecules of all psychoactive substances are able to affect our thinking and behavior because they can cross the blood-brain barrier which is a shield of tiny capillaries in the brain that protects brain cells by screening out many potentially harmful substances. Alcohol affects many different portions of the brain. The first portion is the cerebral cortex. This part is the outermost layer which is responsible for coordinating sensation, perception, speech and judgment.
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When alcohol affects this portion of the brain the individual experiences slurred speech and misjudgments in thinking. The second portion of the brain affected by alcohol is the cerebellum, which is located at the back of the skull. This part is responsible for coordination and balance. When this area is affected by alcohol the individual starts to stagger, fall and be clumsy. The final portion of the brain to be affected is the limbic system which is located beneath the cortex. This portion is related to memory, sexual and emotional behavior.
When this portion of the brain gets affected with alcohol, the individuals emotions are exaggerated. The behavior can range from boisterousness, verbal aggression, and violent behavior to quiet withdrawal and tearfulness. Sometimes there can be memory lapses of events which occurred during drinking. In small doses, alcohols depressing effects can stimulate the brain. One of the functions of the cortex is to repress emotions, enabling people to control their behavior in everyday life. When the cortex is depressed by alcohol, the senses and judgment are affected but emotions are more easily expressed and the person feels exhilarated. This is how alcohol helps people relax and make conversations more easily.
When too much in consumed during a short time, the liver will not be quick enough to break down to alcohol before it depresses the other parts of the brain. This is when people feel the negative effects of alcohol. When alcohol reaches the brain, it immediately has a depressant effect. Drinkers may describe the change as relaxing. What they actually experience are physical changes such as loss of sensation and a decrease in sharpness of vision, hearing, and other senses. If drinking continues, alcohol depresses the part of the brain that controls breathing and heart beat.
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Breathing rates, pulse rates, and blood pressure, which initially increased, now decrease. A drinker may loose consciousness, slip into a coma, or die from alcohol poisoning Heavy drinkers and many first-time drinkers may suffer blackouts. Other people recall seeing themselves walking, talking, and in control. The following day however, they have no memory of some events the day before. When a brain cell is depressed, the production of electrical impulses stops and the membrane is disorganized. This makes the function more slow than it normally does.
High doses of alcohol modifies the brain lipids causing brain cells to produce less protein. This then leads to difficulties in learning and judgments for days or weeks after alcohol consumption has stopped. Constant exposure to alcohol changes the physical characteristics of the cell making the individual suffer experience symptoms without consuming alcohol. Therefore, this tells that alcohol can be addictive if consumed for long time in large amounts. So the effects of alcohol on the brain can be good and bad. It is good for people who drink small amounts, but bad for those who drink large amounts. In my opinion, I think alcohol is an important drink to have.
If used wisely, it can have many beneficial effects on the mind. It is excellent for social occasions as it makes conversation easier and reduces anxiety and tension. If used wrongly, it can cause embarrassing behavior, addiction and even death in a car accident. So my advice to alcohol drinkers will be to learn how the brain is affected by alcohol that way, they will understand the positive and negative effects alcohol has on the brain. They might also develop better habits of drinking, maximizing the positive effects while minimizing the negatives. SOURCES: http://www.personalmd.com/news/a1996122009.shtml http://www.cnn.com/HEALTH/9510/alcohol brain/index.html http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/alco.html http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia 761552168/Alcoholism.html#p11 http://www.alcohol-drug.com/neuropsych.htm.
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