#87 Why you don’t remember your nights out? (English)

As much as we all enjoy going out, socializing and drinking, there’s nothing worse than that feeling of not remembering what happened. Well, I’m here to tell you that there is no point trying to piece it all together because the events were never remembered in the first place! It’s hard to remember something that your brain never saved, quite frankly it is impossible. So, what exactly goes on up there?

When exposed to large amounts of alcohol, neurons in the hippocampus produce steroids, which inhibit the formation of memory. The image below shows how memories are made. As you can see, alcohol interferes with the transfer of short to long term memory.

Some people however are more prone to memory loss than others. This explains why some may remember their nights out while others do not. ‘Brown outs’, where details vanish, are much more common than ‘blackouts’, where very heavy drinkers wake up and are unable to remember anything that happened. The chance of a blackout occurring is quite rare.

Often we hear people say that consuming alcohol kills brain cells. Study shows that this is not the case even when alcohol is directly applied to a brain cell it does the not damage them. As mentioned before, steroids are released by brain cells blocking the formation of long term memories.

Even though alcohol does not kill your brain cells, it is not a good idea to drink to the point of a so called brown out. Drink responsibly and do not waste your time trying to remember a forgotten night out. Nights out like this will just make you a bit more careful next time you drink. Of course if you’re only drinking because others around you are, just remember that you don’t need alcohol to fit in with the crowd. There are plenty of other ways to have a good time!

On a more serious note, excessive over-consumption of alcohol, especially in comparison with the intake of other foods, can cause a thiamine deficiency, leading to a much more serious form of amnesia known as Korsakoff’s syndrome. Make sure you eat before drinking and know your limits.

McA