Alcohol and the brain

A healthy brain relies on a delicate balance of chemicals and processes. Alcohol is a depressant, which means it disrupts that balance.

Every time you drink alcohol, it affects your brain. As well as feeling less inhibited and being less able to make clear judgments, you are risking long-term effects for your brain and mental health.¹

How alcohol affects your brain

The alcohol in alcoholic drinks is a chemical called ethanol. Ethanol is a very small molecule, so when you drink it reaches most parts of your body – including your brain.

Small amounts of alcohol can cause initial feelings of relaxation, but what’s actually happening is that alcohol is suppressing activity in parts of the brain associated with inhibition.²

Even after you’ve stopped drinking, your brain and central nervous system are still affected while they process the alcohol, which can lead to withdrawal symptoms.³

Brain chemistry

The way alcohol affects the brain is partly down to its effect on ‘neurotransmitters’ – the chemicals that help to transmit signals from one nerve (or neuron) in the brain to another. The more you drink in a session the higher the chance it will contribute to feelings of tension and anxiety, because of the effect it has on these brain chemicals.⁴

Research has found that regular heavy drinking over a long period is linked with a decline in the number of brain cells (or ‘neurons’), and their quality.⁵

Regular heavy drinking can cause:

Withdrawal symptoms: as your brain and central nervous system process the alcohol, the brain has had to adjust to regularly dealing with alcohol. If alcohol is suddenly not there, you can suffer from feelings of anxiety and irritability.⁶
Alcohol dependence: where someone loses control over their drinking and has an excessive desire to drink. A dependent drinker usually experiences physical and psychological withdrawal symptoms if they suddenly cut down or stop drinking.⁷

A good way to protect your brain health is to stick to the UK Chief Medical Officers’ low risk drinking guidelines. To keep health risks from alcohol low, it’s safest to drink no more than 14 units a week, spread over three or more days with several drink-free days each week, and no bingeing.⁸

Alcohol-related brain damage

Alcohol-related brain damage (ARBD) is harm caused to the brain by regular heavy drinking or binge drinking over several years (it’s also sometimes called ‘alcohol-related brain injury’).^9,10

Alcohol-related brain damage can happen for a number of reasons:^{11,12,13,14,15}

Alcohol is toxic. When alcohol molecules reach the brain, they can damage brain cells
Brain cells can be damaged if your body doesn’t have enough water – and alcohol is dehydrating (a ‘diuretic’)
Higher blood pressure caused by alcohol is linked to stroke (where the brain is injured by being starved of oxygen)
Liver damage caused by alcohol (or other causes) can mean the brain is exposed to more toxins which would normally be dealt with by the liver (‘hepatic encephalopathy’)
Fights and falls linked to drinking alcohol can cause brain injury
Heavy drinking tends to be associated with poor diet which can cause malnutrition, harmful for the brain
The brain doesn’t get enough essential vitamins (especially B vitamins, like thiamine) because alcohol interferes with their absorption from your diet

Heavy drinking can lead to malnutrition (due to poor appetite or poor nutrition, or diarrhoea and vomiting) which can make the brain suddenly short of the vital vitamin B1 – also known as thiamine. This, in turn, can cause a specific brain illness called Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome, leading to impaired recent memory, difficulty learning new information, and poor balance.¹⁶

Alcohol-related brain injury can also cause alcohol-related dementia.¹⁷As with many other health problems caused by alcohol, the likelihood of developing these increases the more you drink over time.

Binge drinking and blackouts

Drinking a lot of alcohol in a short space of time (also known as binge drinking) can be dangerous. It affects your brain function and can lead to impulsive behaviour and an increased risk of injury.¹⁸

You are more likely to vomit, have an accident or become involved in a fight, or even lose consciousness and stop breathing.¹⁹

Another possible consequence is ‘blackouts’ – gaps in your memory for events that occurred while you were drinking. These gaps happen if you drink enough alcohol to temporarily block the transfer of memories from short-term to long-term storage – known as memory consolidation.^20,21

Alcohol and brain development

The developing brain can be harmed by alcohol.

Drinking during pregnancy

Alcohol can cause harm to a developing baby at any point during pregnancy, and the more you drink, the greater the risk.²²

If you drink while pregnant the alcohol crosses from your bloodstream through the placenta directly into your baby’s blood. This has a number of harmful effects on a developing baby, including destroying brain cells and damaging developing organs, and can lead to one of several serious life-long conditions for the child, that are together called Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD).²³

Find out more about FASD

Underage drinking

During childhood and teenage years, the brain and body are still developing. Alcohol – even small amounts – can affect memory function, reactions, learning ability and attention span.^24,25

Evidence also reveals that children who start to drink by age 13 are more likely to go on to have worse grades, to skip school, and even to be excluded from school.^26,27

The risks associated with underage drinking is why it is recommended that an alcohol-free childhood is the healthiest and best option.²⁸

Alcohol, the brain, and mental health

The more alcohol you drink regularly, the greater the effect it has on your brain function including – potentially – your mental health.²⁹

Long-term heavy drinking is linked to dementia
Research shows that the risk of dementia increases with people who regularly drink more than the recommended 14 units of alcohol a week.³⁰ Heavy drinking, or repeated binge drinking, can also cause alcohol-related brain damage – which can lead to alcohol-related dementia.³¹
Alcohol makes stress harder to deal with
On a day-to-day basis, research has shown that alcohol makes stress harder to deal with.^32,33
Alcohol can cause depression or anxiety, or make them worse
Alcohol is a depressant. Drinking heavily and regularly is linked with depression and anxiety; and withdrawal from alcohol can temporarily cause or worsen anxiety.^34,35,36,37
Heavy drinking increases the likelihood of suicidal thoughts
The immediate effects of alcohol, like increased impulsiveness, and the long-term negative effects on physical and mental health mean there is a strong association between heavy drinking and suicidal thoughts or actions.³⁸

Find out more about the link between alcohol and suicidal thoughts.

Severe withdrawal symptoms are life-threatening – find out more about what they are and how to get help.

If you're worried about your drinking, our Drinking Check self-assessment below can help you identify if the amount you drink could be putting your health at risk.

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References

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[2] Liu, Y., Grasman, R. P. P. P., Wiers, R. W., Ridderinkhof, K. R., & van den Wildenberg, W. P. M. (2021). Moderate acute alcohol use impairs intentional inhibition rather than stimulus-driven inhibition. Psychological Research, 85(4), 1449–1461. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-020-01353-w

[3] Nutt, D., Hayes, A., Fonville, L., Zafar, R., Palmer, E. O. C., Paterson, L., & Lingford-Hughes, A. (2021). Alcohol and the Brain. Nutrients, 13(11), 3938.

[4] Xu, C., Xiong, Q., Tian, X., Liu, W., Sun, B., Ru, Q., & Shu, X. (2022). Alcohol Exposure Induces Depressive and Anxiety-like Behaviors via Activating Ferroptosis in Mice. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 23(22), 13828. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms232213828

[5] Daviet, R., Aydogan, G., Jagannathan, K., Spilka, N., Koellinger, P. D., Kranzler, H. R., Nave, G., & Wetherill, R. R. (2022). Associations between alcohol consumption and gray and white matter volumes in the UK Biobank. Nature communications, 13(1), 1175. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-28735-5

[6] Bahji, A., Crockford, D., & El-Guebaly, N. (2022). Neurobiology and Symptomatology of Post-Acute Alcohol Withdrawal: A Mixed-Studies Systematic Review. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 83(4), 461–469. https://doi.org/10.15288/jsad.2022.83.461

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[14] Weil, Z. M., Corrigan, J. D., & Karelina, K. (2018). Alcohol Use Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injury. Alcohol Research: Current Reviews, 39(2), 171–180. https://doi.org/10.35946/arcr.v39.2.07

[15] Butts, M., Sundaram, V. L., Murughiyan, U., Borthakur, A., & Singh, S. (2023). The Influence of Alcohol Consumption on Intestinal Nutrient Absorption: A Comprehensive Review. Nutrients, 15(7), 1571. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu15071571

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[17] Dementia UK website. Alcohol-related brain damage: types, symptoms, diagnosis and treatment. [Accessed 11/11/25]. Available at: https://www.dementiauk.org/information-and-support/types-of-dementia/alcohol-related-brain-damage/

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[21] Miller, M. B., DiBello, A. M., Meier, E., Leavens, E. L. S., Merrill, J. E., Carey, K. B., & Leffingwell, T. R. (2019). Alcohol-Induced Amnesia and Personalized Drinking Feedback: Blackouts Predict Intervention Response. Behavior Therapy, 50(1), 25–35. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beth.2018.03.008

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Last Reviewed: 14th April 2026

Next Review due: 14th April 2029

Newsletter

Alcohol and the brain

How alcohol affects your brain

Brain chemistry

Alcohol-related brain damage

Binge drinking and blackouts

Alcohol and brain development

Drinking during pregnancy

Underage drinking

Alcohol, the brain, and mental health

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Alcohol and dementia

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