According to the Oxford Journals, alcohol is known to impair reaction times. While the legal drinking age in the United States is 21, many people younger than that have at least tried alcohol, according to KidsHealth.org. When deciding whether or not to consume alcohol, it's important to understand how it affects your body.
About Alcohol
Alcohol is made from fermented grains, vegetables or fruits. This means that the yeast or bacteria in these foods change the foods' sugars to alcohol. Alcohol is water-soluble and can be easily absorbed into the bloodstream. Since more blood is supplied to the brain than any other organ in the body, alcohol can quickly impair brain function. The absorption of alcohol affects the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord) which controls all of your body's functions.
Effects
Alcohol is a depressant and it slows down the function of your central nervous system. It even blocks certain messages from reaching your brain. Aside from just your reaction times, your emotions, vision and even hearing can be affected. Alcohol can also diminish muscle coordination. This is especially important in drivers; a driver who has been drinking does not have the muscle coordination to react properly to their surroundings. People who are heavily intoxicated are at risk for being sexually active in a way they wouldn't normally be otherwise; injuring themselves; being in a car crash; or even suicide.
Study
A study conducted at the Olin Neuropsychiatry Research Centre at Hartford Hospital in Connecticut in 2010, showed that people who consumed a high amount of alcohol showed a severe increase in reaction time. The study gave 38 people three different doses of alcohol--zero intoxication, moderate intoxication and high intoxication. While the reaction time for the zero and moderate groups were similar, the high intoxication group not only had delayed reactions but they also made more errors. Each group had to hit a button when the letter "X" was displayed on a screen. Researchers feel that the moderate group was easily able to compensate for the effects of the alcohol, making them react at a basically normal rate. The high intoxication group had more difficulty compensating for the effects of the alcohol, making them slow down and take more time to respond to stimuli in an effort to not make a mistake.
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