The causes of amnesia in intoxication and alcoholism

What causes memory loss after alcohol? Many are aware of the toxic effects of ethyl alcohol on nerve cells, which record, store and process information received from the environment.

Basic mechanisms:

1. Excessive excitation of nerve cells.
2. Edema of intercellular substance of the brain and hypertension.
3. Damage to connections between neurons.

The nerve tissue with its neurons and the conduction system is a memory substrate. Alcohol inhibits the transmission of a nerve impulse between nerve cells, prevents adequate functioning of the limbic system of the brain. Ethyl alcohol causes mild edema of neurons and glia, leading to headache and impaired nerve impulse transmission.

The main causes of

The loss of memory from alcohol is caused by the action, both on the cortex and on the subcortical formations of the brain. The main target of alcohol is the hippocampus. This is an ancient formation of the brain responsible for "archiving" information. Thanks to the hippocampus, which translates impressions into long-term memory, a person for a long time remembers events that happened to him. Alcohol blocks the "archiving" of data received during drinking and holiday. And this effect is dose-dependent in people who do not suffer from alcoholism.

Ethyl alcohol is absorbed by the walls of the stomach, as a low-molecular compound. Alcohol easily penetrates the central nervous system, as it readily dissolves in fats( lipids), of which the nervous tissue consists.

Important! Hunger aggravates amnesia after intoxication, because in this case, rapid absorption of ethanol into the blood and its entry into the nervous system occurs.

Strong alcoholic drinks have a much more powerful effect on memory processes than low-degree alcohol. The value also has a length of the period during which the human brain was subjected to a massive attack of drinking-bouts, if we talk about chronic alcoholism.

When drinking binges, chronic intoxication occurs with ethyl alcohol, acetaldehyde. People who suffer from chronic alcoholism suffer from impaired liver function. This can lead to hepatic encephalopathy and memory problems caused by already intoxication with ammonia in liver dysfunction.

The loss of memory in alcoholic intoxication is also due to the effect of ethyl alcohol on the hormonal system of the hippocampus, under the influence of which the process of recording data is blocked. At high doses of alcohol, not only certain fragments fall out, but also completely all events that occurred after intoxication. Such memories disappear not only because of impaired impulses.

Nature of memory impairment

During alcohol intoxication processes of short-term and long-term memory are violated, however the process of memorization is not blocked. As a result, a person in a state of intoxication is able to perform difficultly coordinated actions, but after sobering, do not remember them.

In chronic alcoholism, a person can lose some fragments of long-term memory. Axons break between nerve cells, i.e. White matter of the brain. The development of alcoholic dementia( dementia), as well as hepatic encephalopathy, contributes to a total loss of memory with the preservation of only memorization processes.

Memory loss as protection from shame

Mechanisms of so-called alcohol amnesia are also included in psychological defense. Memory protects a person from negative memories, because of which a person would feel a sense of shame and embarrassment. Moreover, this blockage is not realized by the patient himself, he does not lie that he does not remember a particular episode.

If memories after alcohol intoxication are blocked by psychological protection, and are not caused by a violation of the recording process, they can be restored. With such methods as hypnosis or psychotherapy, the lost fragments of memory miraculously resurrect from the subconscious. Alcoholic amnesia, the reasons of which are the alcohol blocking of the recording process, does not allow to restore lost memories even with the help of hypnosis.

Treatment of alcoholic amnesia

If there is alcoholic amnesia, treatment is carried out with the help of nootropic drugs, detoxicants. Introduction after intoxication of low-molecular-weight polyvinylpyrrolidone( Hemodez) preparations, glucose solution helps restore liver function. Nootropic drugs will improve blood circulation and reduce the toxic effect of alcohol and its derivatives on nerve cells.

Research is being conducted on the use of steroid receptor blockers, which mediate the effect of alcohol on the hippocampus. The ability of Finasteride to prevent amnesia after intoxication is studied.

Treatment of memory loss in alcoholism is the complete cessation of alcohol intoxication. Chronic alcoholism, loss of memory in which aggravated, difficult to treat. Resort treatment, psychotherapy is necessary.