Question

Tom wakes up with a tremendous hangover and slowly walks into the kitchen. His roommates start teasing him about his crazy dancing at the party the night before, and how he was "making the moves" on a certain girl. Tom painfully shakes his head, "No wayI didn't do that!" To which his roommates reply: "Oh yes you did, buddy, and we have the pix to prove it! Ha-ha!" Looking at the photo, Tom says, "Nope, I don't remember thatat all!" What alcohol-related phenomenon is Tom experiencing?

Answer 1

Loss of memory for short time

Step-by-step explanation:

Tom had the phenomen of loss of memory (for short time, because it's just happened when he was drunk). This situation is also know as "alcoholic blackout". It differs from alcoholic coma, a stage reached with excessive alcohol consumption, because in the "blackout" the person does not reach total unconsciousness. Although the researchers don't know all the details of why this phenomenon happens.

In alcohol blackout, the brain is unable to memorize new information but still is possible to continue to speak and act normally. The brain simply stops storing information, either partially - at certain times of a night, for example - or totally when we completely forget everything that happened.

This phenomenon is mainly related to the speed in which drinks are ingested and less with the amount. The body of people are different, and the volume of alcohol in the blood does not follow a standart to trigger this phenomenon, depends on the sensitivity of the person.

There is a mechanism in the brain called synaptic plasticity, that serves to memorize and learn. The neurons have a 'plastic' transmission activity, which means that they adapt - increase or decrease these activities - often. Alcohol can modifies this phenomenon, disturbing this brain balance and inducing blackouts and loss of memory capacity.