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Module 1.3b

death ( Kendler et al., 2016 ; Mackey et al., 2019 ; WHO, 2018b ; Figure 1.3-7 ) .

Girls and young women (who have less of a stomach enzyme that digests
alcohol) can become addicted to alcohol more quickly than boys and young
men do, and they are at risk for lung, brain, and liver damage at lower con- Daniel Hommer, NIAAA, NIH, HHS
sumption levels ( CASA, 2003 ). With increased heavy drinking among women,
these gender differences can have life-or-death consequences: Between 2001
and 2017, Canadian women’s risk for alcohol-related death increased at five Scan of woman with Scan of woman without
times the rate for men ( Tam, 2018 ). alcohol use disorder alcohol use disorder
(a) (b)
Slowed Neural Processing Alcohol slows sympathetic nervous system
activity. Larger doses cause reactions to slow, speech to slur, and skilled performance to dete-
Distributed by Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers. Not for redistribution.
riorate. Alcohol is a potent sedative, especially when paired with sleep deprivation. Add these Figure 1.3-7
physical effects to lowered inhibitions, and the result can be deadly. As blood-alcohol levels rise Disordered drinking
shrinks the brain
and judgment falters, people’s qualms about drinking and driving lessen. When drunk, people MRI scans show brain shrinkage
aren’t aware of how drunk they are ( Moore et al., 2016 ). Almost all drinkers insist when sober in women with alcohol use
Copyright © Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers.
that they would not drive under the influence later. Yet, in experiments, the majority of intox- disorder (a) compared with
icated participants decided to drink and drive ( MacDonald et al., 1995 ; Ouimet et al., 2020 ). women in a control group (b).
Unaware of their intoxication, people may think they can drive safely even when they can’t.
Alcohol can also be life threatening when heavy drinking suppresses the gag reflex.
Usually, vomiting releases toxins. When people drink heavily, however, they may inadver-
tently poison themselves with an overdose that their body would normally throw up.

Drinking disaster demo
Firefighters reenacted the trauma
of an alcohol-related car accident,
providing a memorable demonstration
for these high school students. Alcohol
consumption leads to feelings of
invincibility, which become especially
dangerous behind the wheel of a car.

Lon Clark Diehl tolerance the diminishing
effect with regular use of the
same dose of a drug, requiring
the user to take larger and larger
doses before experiencing the
Memory Disruption Alcohol can disrupt memory formation, and heavy drinking can drug’s effect.
have long-term effects on the brain and cognition. In rats, at a developmental period corre- addiction an everyday term for
sponding to human adolescence, binge drinking contributes to nerve cell death and reduces compulsive substance use (and
the birth of new nerve cells. It also impairs the growth of synaptic connections ( Crews et al. , sometimes for dysfunctional
2006 2007 ). In humans, heavy drinking may lead to blackouts, in which drinkers continue to behavior patterns, such as
,
interact but are unable to later recall people they met or what they said or did while intox- out-of-control gambling)
that continue despite harmful
icated. These blackouts result partly from the way alcohol suppresses rapid eye movement consequences. (See also
(REM) sleep, which helps store the day’s experiences into permanent memories. substance use disorder.)
withdrawal the discomfort and
Reduced Self-Awareness In one experiment, those who consumed alcohol (rather distress that follow discontinuing
than a placebo beverage) were doubly likely to be caught mind-wandering during a an addictive drug or behavior.
reading task, yet were less likely to notice that they zoned out ( Sayette et al., 2009 ).

The Neuron and Neural Firing: Substance Use Disorders and Psychoactive Drugs Module 1.3b 43

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