Why alcohol makes us do stupid thingsBy Roger Highfield, Science Editor
29/04/2008
A few glasses of alcohol - enough to reach the drink-drive limit - are enough to rob drinkers of their fears so they are more likely to take risks, concludes a brain scan study that provides a vivid insight into "Dutch courage."
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A few glasses of alcohol - enough to reach the drink-drive limit - are enough to rob drinkers of their fears so they are more likely to take risks, concludes a brain scan study that provides a vivid insight into "Dutch courage."
The Government's Know Your Limits TV anti drunkenness advertisement shows a young man, imagining he is dressed as a superhero, who climbs some scaffolding but slips and falls.
As he lies broken on the ground, a voiceover states: "Too much alcohol makes you feel invincible when you're most vulnerable."
Today, in the Journal of Neuroscience, a brain imaging study reveals why people are more prepared to take risks when they are intoxicated, marking the first study of its kind on alcohol's effect on the response of neuronal circuits to threats.
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