Alcohol exposes your body to various health problems like liver damage, kidney failure, depression, etc. But ever thought about why people who drink alcohol more often act dumb out of nowhere?
Alcohol is known to impact one’s brain drastically, leaving both short and long-term consequences. As one sips booze, the neurotransmitter’s function gets slowed down, leading to reduced brain function. Similarly, as time passes, alcohol makes the person act further dumb by shrinking the brain and causing various brain diseases like dementia, memory loss, depression, blackouts, etc.
Want to know more about the relationship between alcohol and brain function that ultimately causes people to act dumb? Then without any further ado, let’s find out how alcohol contributes to making you dumb.
How Does Alcohol Affect You?
Sipping booze damages our bodies both mentally and physically. It not only damages the organs and causes various diseases but also shrinks one’s thinking ability. Some of the effects of drinking alcohol on the human body are:
- Weekend immunity
- Damage to organs like kidneys and liver, resulting in their complete failure
- Infection in the gastrointestinal tract and stomach lining
- Growth of harmful bacteria in the gut
- Increased risk of cardiovascular problems like heart stroke, irregular rhythm, etc
- Impairment of the brain leading to a reduction in cognitive function
- Depression, anxiety, and attacks
- Extreme Alcohol dependency
Does Alcohol Make You Dumb? The Brain Game
Soon after you drink alcohol, the ingredients in it, primarily acetaldehyde, get metabolized and enter the body. As a result, the conveyance of signals between the brain and the body slows down. In fact, the ability of the brain to control its sub parts becomes difficult, like the thalamus, hippocampus, etc.
Consequently, the person fails to respond correctly and acts dumb in front of everyone. Moreover, studies show that adolescent brains get affected more easily by drinking.
Similarly, long-term drinking, binge drinking, or heavy drinking is known to alter the shape and appearance of the brain completely. As a result, people eventually develop various mental illnesses like depression, dementia, etc., and thus fail to act normally.
How Does Alcohol Make You Dumb?
Till now, it has become clear that, yes, drinking makes you look dumb. Now, let’s figure out the possible way in which alcohol affects the brain and impairs its ability to respond.
Short-Term Effect On Brain
Here are a few ways in which alcohol immediately affects your brain soon after consumption and makes you feel dumb.
Slowing Down Of Brain
First of all, drinking booze is known to slow the transmitting power of GABA throughout the body. As a result, the person experiences problems like slurred speech and much slowed response time. Moreover, it increases the release of glutamate and Dopamine, which makes you feel happy and grants a fuzzy feeling.
Loss Of Coordination
Similarly, due to slowed conveyance between the brain and body parts, people lose coordination while doing simple tasks like doing a signature. Suddenly, they fail to control their body, thus looking like a dumb person who doesn’t know how to do a signature.
Affects Cognitive Function
Additionally, alcohol is known to impair intellectual functioning moderately. As a result, the person fails to think properly or understand the next person’s call immediately. In short, it has a detrimental effect on the brain’s executive function.
Low Tolerance
Another effect of drinking too much alcohol is low tolerance. People claim that drinking booze changes their behavior to a huge extent. They become less tolerant and get hyper and angry much more quickly.
Blackouts
Last but not least, too much alcohol exposure causes blackouts, too, causing one to act a big dumb in a gathering. Imagine someone asking you about last night’s party, and you can’t recall a bit just because you are heavily drunk. Indeed, an awkward situation. That’s exactly what alcohol does. It blocks the passage of signals to the hippocampus, thus completely vanishing the memory from one’s brain.
Long-Term Effect On Brain
Similarly, alcohol has some long-term effects on the brain too, which are permanent and can’t be cured, thus making you feel dumb to some extent. Some of these are:
Depression And Anxiety
Eventually, too much alcohol results in increased dependency on it. As a result, people become more prone to it, and the brain stops working actively. In fact, studies show a 63.8% increased risk of depression among individuals who are dependent on alcohol.
Anxiety and depression not only retards brain function but incorporate a feeling of frustration among people.
Dementia And Impaired Memory
Similarly, with time, alcohol consumption results in memory loss and brain damage. Consequently, you forget things and become a patient of dementia.
And you know what is even worse? Dementia can’t be cured at all.
Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome
Another brain disease associated with alcoholism is Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome. It occurs due to excessive alcohol drinking. Consequently, it causes nerve damage and supporting cells of the brain, leading to CNS and spinal cord damage. As a result, you fail to process new information, which leads to a gap in long-memory gaps and new events.
Shrinks the Brain
Lastly, drinking alcohol is known to shrink brain size (atrophy), resulting in a smaller one than that of a normal individual. Moreover, they have poor white matter in the brain. Thus, it helps you process information slowly and acting you feel dumb.
So, these are a few ways in which drinking alcohol can make you feel dumb and inactive in front of everyone. Apart from it, it imposes several other problems on the adult, like organ damage, cardiovascular disorders, etc.
Conclusion
Yes, drinking alcohol can make you dumb. The reason is that it affects the functioning of the brain. Consequently, the next person fails to process new information and remember new events. Moreover, it results in gaps in past memory.
As a result, you fail to answer the call and questions of other people, thus making you feel dumb in front of others.
I am a passionate beer connoisseur with a deep appreciation for the art and science of brewing. With years of experience tasting and evaluating various beers, I love to share my opinions and insights with others and I am always eager to engage in lively discussions about my favorite beverage.
