Boozy impact – How alcohol makes it harder for some people to stop at one or two.

Cosmos Magazine 3 February 2021 –Natalie Parletta
Family First Comment: Excellent article highlighting some latest research…
“Too much alcohol makes it harder to say ‘no’ or ‘enough’. Over time, this can lead to compulsive alcohol-seeking, an inability to self-limit intake despite negative consequences and the emergence of physical and affective withdrawal symptoms, all of which are the basis of alcohol use disorders.”

Enjoying a couple of drinks or three can be a great way to unwind, oil the conversation and unleash the inner merrymaker. But why do some of us push on despite swearing “never again” after the last hangover from hell?

Researchers from Australia and the US say they’ve shown – in rats at least – how alcohol impacts brain regions associated with stress and pleasure, and, perhaps not surprisingly, dampens our impulse control.

“We show binge alcohol consumption over a long period of time changes the parts of the brain that manage our responses to stress,” says Selena Bartlett from the University of Queensland, senior author of a study published in the journal Neuroscience.

“In fact, although alcohol is pleasurable in the first few glasses, over time, it makes us more stressed in the long run.”

The study found that long-term alcohol use impacted neurons sensitive to emotional stimuli such as anxiety and stress in the brain’s basolateral amygdala and resulted in loss of inhibition. The main role of the basolateral amygdala, or complex, is around our response to fear.

“Too much alcohol makes it harder to say ‘no’ or ‘enough’,” says Bartlett.

“Over time, this can lead to compulsive alcohol-seeking, an inability to self-limit intake despite negative consequences and the emergence of physical and affective withdrawal symptoms, all of which are the basis of alcohol use disorders.”
READ MORE: https://cosmosmagazine.com/health/body-and-mind/boozy-brain/