Washington: Ever wondered why you end up missing some memories after a good night out? It's because your brain cells release steroids that block formation of long-term memories, scientists say.
It's been believed that heavy drinking kills brains cells, which in turn causes memory losses. But, the new study found that isn't true.
"Alcohol isn't damaging the cells in any way that we can detect," said study researcher Charles Zorumski of the Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis.
"As a matter of fact, even at the high levels we used here, we don't see any changes in how the brain cells communicate," Zorumski was quoted as saying by LiveScience.
According to Zorumski, after heavy drinking one still processes information. "You're not anaesthetised. You haven't passed out. But you're not forming new memories."
Even high levels of alcohol applied directly to brain cells didn't damage them, found the researchers who carried out tests on mice in the study, published in the Journal of Neuroscience.
Instead, the researchers found that large amounts of alcohol cause brain cells to release steroids that block the formation of long-term memories - a process called long-term potentiation, or LTP.
"It takes a lot of alcohol to block LTP and memory," Zorumski said.
"The alcohol triggers these receptors to behave in seemingly contradictory ways, and that's what actually blocks the neural signals that create memories. It also may explain why individuals who get highly intoxicated don t remember what they did the night before."
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