How hangovers REALLY impair your brain: Study in an Irish pub reveals adults have worse memory, slower reaction times and are less alert if they were drunk the day before
- Until now, studies on hangovers have mostly been restricted to just students
- But researchers wanted to examine how they affect the general population
- Dozens of participants were asked to complete tests after a night of boozing
Hangovers really do make you less alert, impair your memory and slow down your reaction times, scientists have confirmed.
Until now, studies on hangovers have been restricted to just alcohol-fuelled students who drink regularly.
But researchers wanted to examine how drinking the night before affects the mental capacity of the general population.
So, in the name of science, dozens of participants getting drunk in a pub in the afternoon were asked to complete brain tests the next day.
Researchers at the University of Ulster conducted the ‘naturalistic’ study in a pub in a town in Ireland that they did not name.
Until now, studies on the effects of a hangover have been restricted to just alcohol-fuelled students who drink more frequently
They did, however, reveal it had a population of 6,839 in the 2011 Census – the same amount of people recorded living in Buncrana, County Donegal.
The academics hung around in the unidentified pub from the time it opened – 10.30am – until 3pm to recruit 43 people to take part.
Anyone generous enough to offer their services had to volunteer for the day because there was no financial incentive for them to take part.
Before taking part in the study participants were screened in an office above the pub and disqualified if they had a head injury, were taking medication, were pregnant or had in the past been treated for drug or alcohol addiction.
The NHS recommends that adults drink no more than 14 units each week — that’s 14 single shots of spirit or six pints of beer or a bottle and a half of wine
On average the group consumed 15.4 units of alcohol of their own accord during the day of drinking – more than Britons are advised to have on a weekly basis.
This added up to around five large glasses of wine or six-and-a-half pints of lager each.
All volunteers were then asked to complete various brain tests the next day while hungover.
The same people then repeated those tests when they were sober within the next 10 days.
Results showed they recalled significantly fewer words in one of the tests when they were hungover, compared to when they were more alert.
They also had slower reaction times and made significantly more errors in the other tests, according to the results in the journal Addictive Behavior Reports.
Writing in the journal, the researchers led by graduate student Lydia Devenney said: ‘The slower response times observed during a hangover… are in line with previous findings in student samples.
‘Taken together, the effects on cognitive performance during the hangover state of the current adult working sample were more or less comparable to those observed in student samples.
‘Thus, the impairing effects of alcohol hangover on mood and cognition seen in student samples are equally present in older non-student samples.’
Participants also were significantly less alert and had lower feelings of tranquillity when they completed the mood test on their hangover day.
Around half of the participants were women and the average age was 31.4 years old. The youngest was just 19 and the oldest was 60.
Three volunteers were excluded because they had taken drugs on the day they drank – two had used cannabis while another used ecstasy.
Two other participants were cut out of the study for smoking cannabis on the control day, when they were supposed to be in a healthy mental state.
DO YOU DRINK TOO MUCH ALCOHOL? THE 10 QUESTIONS THAT REVEAL YOUR RISK
One screening tool used widely by medical professionals is the AUDIT (Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Tests). Developed in collaboration with the World Health Organisation, the 10-question test is considered to be the gold standard in helping to determine if someone has alcohol abuse problems.
The test has been reproduced here with permission from the WHO.
To complete it, answer each question and note down the corresponding score.
YOUR SCORE:
0-7: You are within the sensible drinking range and have a low risk of alcohol-related problems.
Over 8: Indicate harmful or hazardous drinking.
8-15: Medium level of risk. Drinking at your current level puts you at risk of developing problems with your health and life in general, such as work and relationships. Consider cutting down (see below for tips).
16-19: Higher risk of complications from alcohol. Cutting back on your own may be difficult at this level, as you may be dependent, so you may need professional help from your GP and/or a counsellor.
20 and over: Possible dependence. Your drinking is already causing you problems, and you could very well be dependent. You should definitely consider stopping gradually or at least reduce your drinking. You should seek professional help to ascertain the level of your dependence and the safest way to withdraw from alcohol.
Severe dependence may need medically assisted withdrawal, or detox, in a hospital or a specialist clinic. This is due to the likelihood of severe alcohol withdrawal symptoms in the first 48 hours needing specialist treatment.