Abstract
Alcohol intake – moderate or excessive – is commonly associated with a decline of cognitive capabilities. However, according to recent research, a moderate alcohol consumption in late life results in better episodic memory and larger hippocampal area (Downer, Jiang, Zanjani, & Fardo, 2014) as opposed to the popular belief of alcohol damaging the brain and memory. Furthermore, other studies like Kuhn et al. (2014) discovered that whilst excessive drinking does indeed cause damage to the hippocampus, abstaining from drinking for even short periods of time such as two weeks causes the brain to restore itself. Hence, as research confronts popular belief, this paper is a ‘Research on Whether Moderate Ethylic Alcohol Consumption Impairs the Formation and Retrieval of Long-Term Memories’ to evaluate whether alcohol damages memory or whether it can be beneficial instead. Throughout the investigation, the terms ethylic alcohol and alcohol have been used interchangeably, the first refers to its chemical name but both allude the same substance.
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Alcohol intervenes with the main area of the brain responsible for memory processing, the temporal lobe which is involved in the formation of long-term memories. The medial temporal lobe is involved in declarative and episodic memories where the limbic system is located which comprises the hippocampus, the amygdala and the basal ganglia system that play an important role in the processing of memory and emotions (Oscar-Berman & Marinkovic, 2003).
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