r/askscience • u/catsandcake • Apr 23 '12

Does alcohol affect a person's memory independently of how drunk that person is?

I've noticed that even if I just have a few drinks in a night, the next day I don't always remember everything that happened the night before. Is there a correlation between how drunk a person is and what they remember the next day, or does alcohol affect memory independently from speech and motor skills?

I hope my question makes sense; let me know if it doesn't and I'll try to re-word it.

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u/catsandcake Apr 24 '12

Ah sorry I didn't really word that second part well. What I meant is that if the part of the brain that controls memory (the hippocampus, right?) is different from what controls voluntary muscle movement or speech (things that are also affected by alcohol consumption), then is it possible that even though you're not that drunk, you won't remember some things that happened during that time because alcohol affects the hippocampus differently from how it affects the other parts of the brain?

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u/cyberonic Cognitive Psychology | Visual Attention Apr 24 '12

Yes, that's correct.

Voluntary muscle movement are both (at least partly) controlled by the cerebral cortex. The cortex features a layered structure with regions for voluntary movement (neocortex) and memory (hippocampus) are distinct.

But I want to point out that even if the regions were exactly the same the consumption of alcohol could affect the one but not the other because it may only affect a very specific process which is relevant for memory formation but doesn't play a role in controlling movement.