Author: Gary Jackson

What we know about alcohol-induced blackouts

Scientists debate the exact way a memory is formed, but most agree that memories are made in three stages. If you liked this story, sign up for the weekly bbc.com features newsletter, called “If You Only Read 6 Things This Week”. A handpicked selection of stories from BBC Future, Culture, Capital, and Travel, delivered to your inbox every Friday. The experience can be compared to snapping photos only to discover later that there was no film in the camera.

  1. Short-term memory is sometimes called scratchpad memory—it records events for only about three minutes before they fade.
  2. Studies have also found that women may be at greater risk of blackouts even though they generally drink less alcohol less frequently than men.
  3. One study estimated that the odds of experiencing a blackout is about 50% when blood alcohol content reaches 0.22 percent.
  4. States that include voluntary drinking, on the other hand, usually include the caveat that the accused must ‘reasonably’ have realised the person was incapacitated.
  5. These include body weight, body fat percentage, and key enzyme levels.
  6. But blackouts are no laughing matter, according to expert researcher Dr. Marc Schuckit.

Are some people more prone to blackouts?

People with severe damage to this area cannot create new memories. Of course, abstaining from alcohol use may be the best way to avoid blackouts and ensure your health and well-being. If you’re struggling to maintain sobriety, American Addiction Centers can help. With treatment facilities scattered across the country, AAC offers detox, inpatient and outpatient treatment, sober living, and more. Contact AAC at to explore your options and take the first steps toward recovery today.

Can medication cause blackouts?

As the word suggests, in this state all memories of the night turn dark after a point. Some drinkers experience less severe, fragmentary blackouts where only pieces of memory are lost. While women tend to reach a higher peak BAC faster than men—mostly because they usually weigh less than their male counterparts—binge drinkers are also at risk for blackouts.

In some early studies on the phenomenon, blackout subjects were able to recall events a couple of minutes after they happened and could even perform simple calculations. A half an hour later, however, they’d forgotten the events completely. According to one 2015 study, vasodilatory medications and diuretics could result in syncope blackouts. If a person believes that they are experiencing psychogenic blackouts, a doctor may refer them to a neurologist, who may be able to diagnose psychogenic blackouts by ruling out other causes. According to the Epilepsy Society, people who experience psychogenic blackouts may benefit from cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT).

They’re evidence of a possible genetic vulnerability to alcohol.

There is no way to recover the pictures you thought you were taking. The difference with a blackout is that, not only are there no pictures in the camera, but your mind has absolutely no memory of having taken the pictures. If a doctor suspects that a person has epilepsy, they may request an MRI or CT scan. These imaging techniques help the doctor examine brain activity and rule out other neurological conditions.

What Happens During a Blackout

It’s thought that chronic alcohol consumption can harm the frontal lobe. This is the part of the brain that controls cognitive function. The frontal lobe also plays a role in short-term and long-term memory formation and recall. A 2006 study found that temporary memory loss caused by a fall in blood pressure (syncope) is a more likely cause of nonalcoholic-induced blackouts.

Treatment

In Korsakoff’s, these source areas of theta are destroyed, which leaves the hippocampus disorganized enough that the link between short- and long-term memory is severed. Excessive alcohol use, stress, medication, and epilepsy can all cause blackouts. While blackouts are a frightening experience, treatment can allow people to lead a normal life without the fear of falling unconscious or losing their memory.

Blacking Out, Fainting, or Loss of Consciousness

A neurally mediated syncope is usually benign and requires no further treatment. It could occur when a person’s blood pressure drops after they experience pain or dehydration or get up too quickly. This type of syncope tends to occur more in children and young adults. They’re also more common among university students, who are known to ‘pre-game’ to get “a buzz on before they start to socialise, and that makes your blood alcohol level rise fast”, says Hingson.

During this epileptic episode, people lose consciousness, and the body goes stiff (tonic phase). The muscles then contract, which may result in the jaw clamping shut (clonic phase). The American Heart Association (AHA) describe a syncope blackout as a short temporary loss of consciousness that happens when not enough blood reaches the brain. This makes blackouts a useful marker and predictor of other detrimental behaviour. Aside from the sex differences, there could be a genetic component to who is more likely to blackout. Individuals whose mothers had a history of alcohol problems were found to be more at risk.

“Across the board there seems to be inherent brain vulnerabilities, and genetic vulnerabilities, that put a person at risk,” she says. Alcohol therefore shuts off brain circuits central to making episodic memories (memories of specific times and places), explains White, who has studied the process on a cellular level with rodent brains. THC, the psychoactive compound found in marijuana, may also increase blackouts when combined with alcohol.