Alcohol: Brain, Behaviour and Cognition

Question 1

What are the three main types of alcohol?

Answer 1

Ethanol, Methanol and Isopropanol

Question 2

Which type of alcohol is fermented from grains, fruits and vegetables?

Answer 2

Ethanol

Question 3

Of the three main types of alcohol, which two are the most and least safe to drink?

Answer 3

Ethanol and Methanol.

Question 4

The inhabitants of which continent seem to consume the least amount of alcohol? Europe, Africa, North America or South America?

Answer 4

Africa

Question 5

Conger (1956) calimed alcohol’s stress reducing effects drive alcohol dependency. What is this hypothesis called?

Answer 5

Tension Reduction Hypothesis

Question 6

A boost in which two neurotransmitters in the early stage of drinking are also thought to encourage further alcohol consumption?

Answer 6

Serotonin and Dopamine.

Question 7

What term describes the percentage of alcohol in the bloodstream?

Answer 7

BAC - Blood Alcohol Count

Question 8

How old are the earliest traces of beer ever found?

Answer 8

13,000 years ago.

Question 9

Which ‘finger’ like cells absorb alcohol molecules in the gastro-intestinal tract?

Answer 9

Epithelial

Question 10

What reduces the rate of alcohol intoxication by slowing the passage of alcohol from the stomach to the small intestine?

Answer 10

Food

Question 11

What does the 2100:1 ratio represent in the measurement of blood alcohol level?

Answer 11

BrAC

Question 12

Which enzyme metabolises around 95% of alcohol in the body?

Answer 12

alcohol dehydrogenase

Question 13

The brain’s attempt to correct the imbalance of which two neurotransmitters are thought to contribute to ‘hangxiety’?

Answer 13

GABA and Glutamate

Question 14

What is the difference between acute and chronic alcohol consumption?

Answer 14

Single use and Pro-longed use.

Question 15

What is the most common form of alcohol consumption and the leading contributor of alcohol deaths among young drinkers?

Answer 15

Binge drinking.

Question 16

Respectively, what are the brain’s major excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmitters?

Answer 16

Glutamate and GABA

Question 17

What term is used to describe the restricted information processing alcohol causes the brain?

Answer 17

Alcohol Myopia

Question 18

What is the legal BAC% limit for driving in England? Does alcohol impair cognition below this level?

Answer 18

0.08% and Yes.

Question 19

Does alcohol depress the activity of all cells it makes contact with?

Answer 19

No

Question 20

Which hormons does alcohol suppress that causes increased blood pressure, more urination and sleep disruptions?

Answer 20

Vasopressin

Question 21

In its action on GABA receptors, alcohol increased the flow of which ions into the neuron? Does this hyperpolarisation increase the cells positive or negative charge?

Answer 21

Calcium Ions and Negatively charges.

Question 22

What does alcohol do the brain’s glutamate receptors?

Answer 22

Suppresses them.

Question 23

What important set of cognitive functions are supported by the pre-frontal cortex?

Answer 23

Executive Function.

Question 24

What is the main connection between the neurotransmission of alcohol and alcohol myopia?

Answer 24

Alcohols GABA facilitation and glutamate suppression reduces neural activity resulting in reduced cognitive capacity.

Question 25

Which widely studied cognitive task is one of the key strands of evidence that alcohol impairs cognitive inhibition?

Answer 25

Go/No-Go Task

Question 26

Which important ocular function does alcohol impair that reduces both the speed and scope of visual search?

Answer 26

Saccades

Question 27

What perceptual deficit does alcohol cause, which may partly explain the so-called 'beer goggles' effect?

Answer 27

Bilaterial Symmetry

Question 28

The disruption of what type of hippocampal cells can impair navigation skills under alcohol's influence?

Answer 28

Place cells

Question 29

What two aspects of performance on the 'gorilla' related inattentional blindness task can higher BAC levels impair?

Answer 29

Poorer Pass Counting Accuracy and Increased Inattentional blindness

Question 30

What are the less serious fragmentory alcohol memory 'blackouts' sometimes called?

Answer 30

Brownouts

Question 31

Which part of an unfamiliar face might the drunked brain have an unhelpfully narrowed focus of attention on?

Answer 31

Hairstyles

Question 32

What important memory function does alcohol disrupt, leading to an increased reliance on immediate or short-term memory?

Answer 32

Long-term Potentiation

Question 33

What does GABA stand for?

Answer 33

Gamma Aminobutryic Acid

Question 34

What does PFC stand for?

Answer 34

Pre-frontal Cortex

Question 35

What does ACC stand for?

Answer 35

Anterior-Cingulate-Cortex

Question 36

In disrupting the hippocampus, does alcohol mainly impair the consolidation of explicit or implicit memory?

Answer 36

Explicit