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Washington:
Why do people with above average intelligence act irrationally,
especially when they are drunk?
A new study says that alcohol dulls the brain signal warning
people about mistakes, reducing their self control.
"When people make mistakes, activity in a part of the brain
responsible for monitoring behaviour increases... sending an alarm
signal to other parts of the brain indicating that something went
wrong," said Bruce Bartholow.
Bartholow, associate professor of psychology at the University of
Missouri, Columbia, and his team measured brain activity of 67
participants, aged 21-35 years, as they completed a task designed
to trip them into making errors.
About a third of them were given alcohol, while the rest were
given no alcohol or a placebo beverage, the Journal of Abnormal
Psychology reports.
Besides monitoring brain activity, researchers also measured
changes in participants' mood, their accuracy in the computer
task, as well as their perceived accuracy, according to a Missouri
statement.
The findings showed that the brain's "alarm signal" in response to
errors was much less pronounced in those who had consumed alcohol,
and the response was the largest for those in the placebo group.
However, those in the alcohol group were no less likely to realize
when they had made a mistake than participants in the other
groups.
It indicates that alcohol's reduction of the brain's "alarm
signal" did not occur simply because those in the alcohol group
were unaware of their errors.
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