<P> Alcohol acts as a general central nervous system depressant , but it also affects specific areas of the brain to a greater extent than others . Memory impairment due to alcohol has been linked to disruption of hippocampal function -- in particular affecting gamma - Aminobutyric acid ( GABA ) and N - methyl - D - aspartate ( NMDA ) neurotransmission which negatively impacts long - term potentiation ( LTP ) . The molecular basis of LTP is associated with learning and memory . Particularly , damage to hippocampal CA1 cells adversely affects memory formation , and this disruption has been linked to dose - dependent levels of alcohol consumption . At higher doses , alcohol significantly inhibits neuronal activity in the CA1 and CA3 pyramidal cell layers of the hippocampus . This impairs memory encoding since the hippocampus plays an important role in the formation of new memories . </P>
<P> Alcohol acts as a general central nervous system depressant , but it also affects specific areas of the brain to a greater extent than others . Memory impairment due to alcohol has been linked to disruption of hippocampal function -- in particular affecting gamma - Aminobutyric acid ( GABA ) and N - methyl - D - aspartate ( NMDA ) neurotransmission which negatively impacts long - term potentiation ( LTP ) . The molecular basis of LTP is associated with learning and memory . Particularly , damage to hippocampal CA1 cells adversely affects memory formation , and this disruption has been linked to dose - dependent levels of alcohol consumption . At higher doses , alcohol significantly inhibits neuronal activity in the CA1 and CA3 pyramidal cell layers of the hippocampus . This impairs memory encoding since the hippocampus plays an important role in the formation of new memories . </P>
what part of the brain is memory affected by alcohol
what part of the brain is memory affected by alcohol
hippocampus
hippocampus