The authors of a new study have identified three factors responsible for so-called alcoholic blackouts, the most common consequence of alcohol consumption when a person experiences lapses in memory.

A team of scientists from the Edna Bennett Pierce Prevention Research Center and Department of Biobehavioral Health at Pennsylvania State University in the US set out to find out whether the way people drink alcohol predicts alcohol-induced memory loss. They reported their findings in a paper for the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research.

Memory impairment is a common consequence of alcohol use: According to a 2022 study, nearly 80% of 1,700 college students reported at least one episode of blackout. At the same time, the drinker remains conscious (up to a certain point), interacts with others and in the morning partially or completely does not remember what happened in the evening.

A person may deal with periods of amnesia, as well as symptoms of mental and behavioral disorders and alcohol consumption. Therefore, understanding the reasons that cause such losses in memory will help prevent harm from alcohol addiction.

Authors of previous scientific studies concluded that the amount drunk is not the only factor causing memory loss. American scientists used handheld transdermal alcohol concentration BACtrack Skyn ​​sensors to find other causes and rely only on self-reports from people who asked. They measure biomarkers of toxicity in real time.

The study involved 79 students ages 18 to 22 who were prone to “risky” drinking at a large university in the northeastern United States. They all completed a brief basic study and visited a laboratory where they were given sensors to wear between 5pm on Thursday and Sunday morning for a month. Volunteers also filled out questionnaires each morning about whether they drank the night before and whether they remembered what happened that evening.

The reward amount for one individual was up to $75, and there was also the opportunity to win one of eight $100 gift cards for participating in the experiment.

During the study, scientists recorded 486 episodes of alcohol consumption and 147 episodes of amnesia. More than two-thirds of students (69.3%) experienced “fainting” at least once. To test the hypothesis, scientists created multilevel logistic models and examined how individual indicators of transdermal alcohol concentration (rate and duration of growth and peak) were associated with memory failures.

“Our hypothesis was fully confirmed. We identified three biomarkers—onset rate, duration, and peak of alcohol intoxication—that predicted the likelihood of blackouts in college student drinkers. The results support the idea that a person’s drinking pattern is important in predicting the risk of alcohol-related memory loss.” ” said the scientists.

Thus, while the risk of memory loss increased by 2.69 times on days when the blood alcohol level of the participants increased rapidly; when the highest values ​​\u200b\u200bof alcohol concentration are highest – 2.93 times; When intoxication indicators increase for a long time (this means the hour of drinking alcohol) – 4.16 times. If all three factors were present, only duration of intoxication showed a significant correlation with “fainting.”

“To reduce the risk [провалів у пам’яті]It is important to consider how a person consumes alcohol, not just the amount. The rate of intoxication, peak values, and the time the drinker reaches the peak are important for predicting alcoholic amnesia. Scientists noted that these predictors are important for prevention.

They also highlighted some limitations of the study: the small number of participants, the majority of whom were white (86.1%) and female (55.7%); The days of the experiment were a month, which included St. Patrick’s Day (drinking-related) and Easter weekend (students tend to go home where they drink less). Additionally, sensors may miss days when less alcohol is consumed. After all, during the morning survey, some young people who had not yet met their friends and did not share their impressions of the party may not have realized that they did not remember some moments.