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Alcohol has a variety of effects that can impair decision making and motor skills– which is why it’s prohibited to get behind the wheel after the consumption of alcohol. But how does alcohol specifically affect your body and brain?

One way that alcohol affects your brain function and may inhibit driving performance is through increased processing and reaction time [1]. This claim is supported by a 2010 study [2] that gave 38 participants different doses of alcohol and had them participate in a Go/No-Go reaction test (frequently used to examine cognitive control), where the letters “X” or “K” were displayed on a screen and participants were instructed to only press a button when “X” was displayed. Participants who were given higher doses of alcohol showed significantly slower reaction times as compared with the control group [2]. This reduction in reaction time can contribute to alcohol related deaths and injuries.

Alcohol has also been found to temporarily impair vision, especially night vision, which can cause detrimental failures while driving [3]. In an article published in the Journal of Ophthalmology, the authors demonstrated that alcohol consumption markedly impairs night vision because it increases the perception of halos and other night-time light disturbances [4]. The results showed that following alcohol consumption, the perception of halos and other night-time visual disturbances increased and the optical quality of the image the eye produced deteriorated, due to ethanol in alcohol disturbing the outermost lipid layer of the eye [4].

Furthermore, alcohol has been known to have a negative effect on motor control and function. This is because alcohol selectively suppresses brain activity in the frontal and posterior parietal brain regions; regions most associated with the brain’s ability to monitor and process visuomotor feedback [5]. These brain areas are critical for updating our mental models for motor action. This mechanism leads to the poor coordination one feels after drinking.

It is important to remember that the above is far from an exhaustive list, and every individual responds differently to alcohol.

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[1] Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research. "Alcohol increases reaction time and errors during decision making." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 20 October 2010. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/10/101019162149.htm>.

[2] Beth M. Anderson, Michael C. Stevens, Shashwath A. Meda, Kathryn Jordan, Vince D. Calhoun and Godfrey D. Pearlson. Functional Imaging of Cognitive Control During Acute Alcohol Intoxication. Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, 2010; DOI: 10.1111/j.1530-0277.2010.01332.x

[3] University of Granada. "Eye's optical quality deteriorates after alcohol consumption." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 17 June 2014. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/06/140617093232.htm>.

[4] José J. Castro, Antonio M. Pozo, Manuel Rubiño, Rosario G. Anera, Luis Jiménez del Barco. Retinal-Image Quality and Night-Vision Performance after Alcohol Consumption. Journal of Ophthalmology, 2014; 2014: 1 DOI: 10.1155/2014/704823

[5] Dartmouth College. "Brain Study Considers Motor Function, Cognition With Alcohol Consumption." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 26 April 2006. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/04/060426000314.htm>.