Thursday, April 30, 2020

Alcohol and the brain - male and female differences

So Kathy A. Grant lecture tells us the epigenetics - if there is heavy drinking before the brain is fully developed (by the early 20s) - then there is an epigenetic change towards alcoholism. With chronic drinking then the prefrontal cortex shrinks - it only takes six months of strong drinking to significantly shrink the prefrontal cortex for executive decision (in present time reality).

So this means there is a change in the genetic expression of the cortisol ratio to ACTH (which increases the serotonin levels). So then instead there is an increase in the reptilian striatum brain dopamine expression (and a decrease in the ACTH serotonin bliss).

So since it's epigenetics then this genetic change can probably be reversed.

So then

this lecture on Alcohol and the Female Brain

emphasizes that females get a much stronger cortisol stress effect from alcohol and this is due to females having a higher fat to muscle ratio than males. So the alcohol stays in the blood longer for females and therefore has a stronger effect on the brain for females than for males - that's the real reason why females are required to drink less alcohol than males.

If chronic use is kept low - a glass of wine or less a day - then the effect can be medicinal in lowering heart disease and strokes. But if higher than that level - once 3 drinks are reached - then the effect is brain damage.

So for an alcohol then their genetic expression is based on building up the enzyme needed to process alcohol. So they can respond in present time - and seem coherent - but they do not remember what they are saying. So they are functioning on an "automatic" or habitual level much the same as a person who drives a car without thinking about it.


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