“Our study provides evidence for alternative energy utilization upon alcohol ingestion, i.e., the brain uses an alcohol breakdown product instead of glucose for energy demands,” says Armin Biller in Heidelberg’s Dept. of Neuroradiology. The harmful effect also sets in quickly. During the experiment, the concentration of substances such as creatine, which is attributed with protecting cells, decreases as the concentration of alcohol increases. Choline, a component of cell membranes, was also reduced. “That probably indicates that alcohol triggers changes in the composition of cell membranes," says Biller.

“Our follow-ups on the next day showed that the shifts in brain metabolites after moderate consumption of alcohol by healthy persons are completely reversible,” says Biller. “However, we assume that the brain’s ability to recover from the effect of alcohol decreases or is eliminated as the consumption of alcohol increases. The acute effects demonstrated in our study could possibly form the basis for the permanent brain damage that is known to occur in alcoholics. This should be clarified in future studies.”

Eight male and seven female subjects participated in the alcohol experiment. While lying in the MRI scanner, they drank the specified amount of alcohol through a long straw. The goal was to reach a blood alcohol content of 0.05 to 0.06 percent – a level that impairs ability to drive, but does not induce severe intoxication. In the MRI scanner, the nuclei of atoms in brain tissue were stimulated by a high-frequency impulse and the signal transmitted during the return to the initial condition was received. The spectral properties of this signal can be analyzed, allowing conclusions to be made as to the contents of various products of metabolism in the tissue examined. This study found no differences between the results of male and female individuals – the brains of female and male subjects reacted to alcohol consumption the same way.

Source: Heidelberg Univ. Hospital