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You almost always feel dumber after a night of heavy drinking. Your senses are blunted; you talk a little slower; you can't remember how those chicken bones ended up in the bathroom sink. Despite what you may have heard, you're not feeling that way because alcohol laid waste to your brain cells.
According to Popular Science, which recently debunked several brain myths, the idea that drinking alcohol kills brain cells is not exactly true. Researchers in Denmark looked at the brains of dead alcoholics and nonalcoholics, and they found that both groups had the same number of neurons.
"Alcohol, like other substances, can kill brain cells at high doses (especially the sensitive brain cells of developing fetuses), but moderate alcohol use does not," Popular Science said.
That pretty much blows a gaping hole in the Buffalo Theory, an idea attributed to Cliff Clavin on Cheers. According to the theory, weak cells slow down our brains, much like weak buffalo slow down the herd. When these underperforming buffalo die, the herd improves. So, when less qualified brain cells are killed—by consuming alcohol, the theory holds—the brain improves.
Cliff Clavin never actually said this, but the theory is partially correct—except it doesn't involve alcohol. Instead, pathways in the brain strengthen themselves naturally, according to io9.
Alcohol isn't completely benign as far as the brain is concerned. Researchers have found that hangovers can limit a person's ability to think clearly while they are in the throes of one. And scientists have also found that excessive drinking over a long period can damage the white and grey matters of the brain, affecting a person's judgment and reasoning over time.
Alcohol Doesn't Kill Brain Cells - Popular Science Debunks Common Brain Myths
According to Popular Science, which recently debunked several brain myths, the idea that drinking alcohol kills brain cells is not exactly true. Researchers in Denmark looked at the brains of dead alcoholics and nonalcoholics, and they found that both groups had the same number of neurons.
"Alcohol, like other substances, can kill brain cells at high doses (especially the sensitive brain cells of developing fetuses), but moderate alcohol use does not," Popular Science said.
That pretty much blows a gaping hole in the Buffalo Theory, an idea attributed to Cliff Clavin on Cheers. According to the theory, weak cells slow down our brains, much like weak buffalo slow down the herd. When these underperforming buffalo die, the herd improves. So, when less qualified brain cells are killed—by consuming alcohol, the theory holds—the brain improves.
Cliff Clavin never actually said this, but the theory is partially correct—except it doesn't involve alcohol. Instead, pathways in the brain strengthen themselves naturally, according to io9.
Alcohol isn't completely benign as far as the brain is concerned. Researchers have found that hangovers can limit a person's ability to think clearly while they are in the throes of one. And scientists have also found that excessive drinking over a long period can damage the white and grey matters of the brain, affecting a person's judgment and reasoning over time.
Alcohol Doesn't Kill Brain Cells - Popular Science Debunks Common Brain Myths
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