Repeated sudden increase of the alcohol level in the brain followed by periods of abstinence causes more damage in the brain than uninterrupted, gradual increase of the same quantity of alcohol over the same period of time. This is apparent from a recent British study, which also indicates that women’s brains are more affected by this effect than men’s.

The study that concerns young alcohol drinkers shows that heavy drinking may lead to depression and may impair the cognitive faculties. The researchers followed the drinking patterns of 100 healthy students between 18 and 30 years who, on their own admission, were moderate to heavy social drinkers.

Heavy drinking means not only drinking four glasses of wine in succession with a meal, says Townshend, one of the researchers. Heavy drinking is rather going on a Friday night and drinking to get drunk.

It used to be mainly men who abandoned themselves to heavy drinking, says Townshend. But nowadays women are fast catching up. The breaking news of this research is that women are more affected than men.

Standard tests (not carried out in case of hangover) reveal that heavy drinkers are more anxious and more prone to depressive states of mind. There seemed to be no connection between the time elapsing since their last glass and the degree of well-being. Heavy drinkers performed worse in cognitive tests and as regards memory, which raises the suspicion that drink affects the frontal lobe of the brain.

Townshend says that the research gives no unambiguous sign as to cause or consequence: it may be the case that depressive persons take more swiftly to the bottle, rather than alcohol is the cause of depression. More research is necessary to arrive at any certainty. As we grow older most of us stop heavy drinking, but it is not proven that the effects of earlier heavy drinking will then disappear, so says the researcher.

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