You have seen it at parties, usually ending either in a fight or someone in tears. Why does alcohol make some people mean? Some people cry or get angry when they’re drunk, and no one really questions it. It’s all just chalked up to drunk behavior. Scientists in Australia decided to study the human drunk brain, and found some interesting results.
By studying brain scans of drunk men, researchers were able to pinpoint the areas of the brain that go weak when we drink, thus, making us act differently than normal. According to Gizmodo, our prefrontal cortex—responsible for planning, personality, and social behavior—dozes off while we drink alcohol.
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These discoveries are also backed by other types of studies that show between 35 and 66 percent of violent crimes involve alcohol. In instances that are less extreme, alcohol can make people fight and be more confrontational, lowering our tolerance towards others and thus facilitating problems.
It’s important to highlight that it’s not all alcohol’s fault; it’s the drink combined with a tense situation, a frustrated person, or someone with a naturally aggressive personality.
The participants of the Australian study were separated into two groups: one that was drinking vodka and another that was drinking a placebo. Afterwards, participants had to play a very frustrating competitive-reaction task as their brains were scanned by an MRI. Participants who’d had alcohol, whenever they got angry, displayed a dip in their prefrontal cortex.
The researchers of the study suggest that people who want to avoid aggressiveness should always drink in peaceful environments, where they’ll face fewer stressors. These people should also hang out with friends who they’re comfortable with. Always good advice.
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Another way to look at it from a data point of view is alcohol interferes with cognitive control functions and can lead to narrowed perception and therefore aggression. If you are one of the people this happens to, you must want to figure out a different strategy so this ugly side does not pop out. If you know people like this, when they drink you have to be ready for the ride.
