ALCOHOL DAMAGES DAY-TO-DAY MEMORY FUNCTION
- Researchers know that heavy alcohol use damages retrospective memory.
- New research shows that heavy alcohol use also damages day-to-day memory, which
- includes prospective memory (remembering to do things at some future point in time) and everyday memory (remembering to complete daily activities).
- This damage occurred within drinking limits suggested by U.K. government guidelines.
Research has shown that heavy alcohol use clearly damages
- retrospective memory, that is, the learning, retention and retrieval of previously presented materials. Less is known about the effects of alcohol on day-to-day memory function, specifically,
- prospective memory (remembering to do things at some future point in time) and
- everyday memory (remembering to complete daily activities).
A study in the June issue of Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research uses Internet-based technology to find that heavy alcohol consumption has a negative impact on day-to-day memory.
- “Prospective memory impairments include things like forgetting to send someone a birthday card on time, or forgetting what you’re going to say in the middle of a sentence,” said Jonathan Ling.
- “Everyday memory failures include telling someone a story that you’ve told them before, or forgetting where things are normally kept.
Obviously we all forget things from time to time, however, heavy users of alcohol make noticeably more of these mistakes than either non- or low-users of alcohol.” Ling added that most of what is known about heavy drinkers’ retrospective memory function is based on laboratory research, and even less is known about alcohol’s effects on normal memory-related tasks that people perform from day-to-day.
For this study, researchers collected data from 763 participants (465 female, 298 males) using a specially created Web site. Memory was assessed using two self-report questionnaires: Respondents also self-reported their level of use of alcohol and other drugs.
The results indicate an amount-dependent effect of alcohol use on day-to-day memory function. “We found that heavy users of alcohol reported making consistently more errors than those who said that they consumed little or no alcohol,” said Ling.
- “A typical heavy user of alcohol reported over 30% more memory-related problems than someone who reportedly did not drink, and
- almost 25% more problems than those who stated they drank only small amounts of alcohol.
More specifically, those participants who reported higher levels of alcohol consumption were more likely to miss appointments, forget birthdays and not pay bills on time. Deficits in everyday memory included problems with remembering whether they had done something like locking the door or switching off the lights, or forgetting where they put items like house keys.”
Colin Martin, said “This study is important because it extends our knowledge of alcohol-related memory impairment to everyday situations that most people can identify with, in contrast to laboratory-based memory tasks.”
“We also found a significant increase in reported memory problems by people who claimed to drink between 10 and 25 units each week in comparison to non-drinkers,” added Ling. One unit of alcohol is the equivalent of 10 ml of ethanol; roughly half a pint of beer or one small glass of wine. Current U.K. guidelines for maximum safe units per week are 21 units for women and 28 units for men. “This is an important finding, as it indicates that even if people are using alcohol within the limits suggested by U.K. government guidelines, these individuals still report experiencing memory problems.”
Martin concurred. “Interested readers may wish to reflect on the relevance of government recommended safe drinking limits, since decreased memory performance was observed even within what is generally acknowledged as safe drinking levels,” he said. “Recommended levels may be safe for the liver, but we can’t be sure that they represent safe limits for optimum brain function.”
Article is based on the following published research: Ling, J., Heffernan, T.M., Buchanan, T., Rodgers, J., Scholey, A.B., Parrott, A.C. (June 2003). Effects of alcohol on subjective ratings of prospective and everyday memory deficits. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 27(6), 970-975.
