Scientists have established that two drinks of alcohol altered the functioning of the brain’s prefrontal cortex.
Researchers have used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to better understand why people often become aggressive and violent after drinking alcohol. They measured the blood flow in the brain.
After just two drinks, scientists noticed changes in the functioning of the brain’s prefrontal cortex, the part normally involved in dampening a person’s levels of aggression. L’study was conducted by Thomas Denson, University of New South Wales in Australia, and published in the journal Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience.
Prefrontal cortex
So far, there has been no substantial evidence to support the theory that people’s alcohol-related aggression is caused by changes in the prefrontal cortex.
For this study, Thomas Denson and his team recruited 50 healthy young men. Participants were given either two drinks containing vodka or two non-alcoholic placebo drinks. While lying in an MRI machine, participants had to respond to a verbal provocation that triggered their aggression.
Magnetic resonance imaging allowed researchers to see which areas of the brain were stimulated as a result of the verbal challenge. They were also able to compare the scans of subjects who had consumed alcohol and the scans of subjects who had not. As a result, the activity of the prefrontal cortex of boys who had consumed alcohol was reduced. This moderating effect of alcohol has also been observed in areas of the brain involved in the feeling of reward.
“Even following the ingestion of a low dose of alcohol, we observed a significant cause and effect relationship between the activity of the prefrontal cortex and the aggressiveness associated with the ingestion of alcohol,” summarizes Thomas Denson. These areas of the brain can trigger different behaviors depending on whether a person is sober or drunk.
Higher doses
The findings are largely in line with a growing body of research on the neural basis of aggression and how it is triggered by changes in the prefrontal cortex, limbic system, and areas of the brain related to feelings of reward. . The results of the present study are also consistent with several psychological theories about alcohol-related aggression.
“We encourage future, larger-scale investigations into the neural foundations of alcohol-related aggression, with higher doses and clinical samples. This could potentially help address alcohol-related harms,” Thomas Denson concludes.
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