A new study has sought to demonstrate the changes that manifest themselves in our brain when we consume alcohol, and to identify the response time of our cells. This study shows that alcohol affects our brain cells in 6 minutes after consumption.

Previously, tests concerning the evils of alcohol on the brain had been performed only on animals. For the first time, researchers have demonstrated the rapid changes that alcohol could cause on the brain cells of humans. Researchers from the University Hospital Heidelberg in Germany, say that it is already recognized that the brain responds very quickly to the alcohol, but they wanted to identify more precisely the reaction time.

For this, eight male and seven female volunteers participated in an experiment. They drank a set amount of alcohol through a long straw of 90 cm, while lying in a scanner for a brain MRI. The aim was to reach a BAC of 0.05 to 0.06%, which prevents driving but does not cause severe poisoning. The scanner had enabled scientists to examine small changes in the cellular structure of the brain caused by alcohol.

Only 6 minutes after consuming a quantity of alcohol equivalent to three glasses of beer or two glasses of wine, changes in brain cells occured. Armin Biller neurologist said that the amount of chemicals that protect normal brain cells decreases when the alcohol concentration increases. Surprisingly, the brains of men and women react the same way.

The team discovered that the harmful effects of alcohol on the brain could last for a short time, but that over time, cells may be difficult to regenerate. Dr. Biller says: “Our results have shown that changes in brain metabolites after moderate alcohol consumption among people in good health, were fully reversible. Acute effects demonstrated in our study may be the basis of known permanent damage in alcoholics. This will be clarified in a forthcoming study, “he adds.

An example of the damage done by alcohol: