Glutamate Surge: How Alcohol Hijacks Your Brain

Listen up for a second , because what you don't know about alcohol and your brain could be silently sabotaging you . You've heard of dopamine , the feel good hormone , right , but have you heard of the glutamate surge ? This is a secret shift that happens in your brain chemistry when you drink alcohol , and it's not what you think .

Today we are diving deep into the science of alcohol and neurotransmitters , unraveling myths and spotlighting realities that you will not hear anywhere else . Stick around , because understanding this could change your relationship with alcohol forever . So , firstly , what exactly is glutamate ? So glutamate , or glutamic acid , is a neurotransmitter .

In other words , it's a chemical that brain cells use to communicate with each other . How this works is actually very simple . Well , at least it's simple in principle . One cell releases molecules of glutamate , which are then picked up by dedicated structures on the surface of neighboring cells . The structures are called receptors .

Think of receptors as a lock and neurotransmitters as the key that turns the lock . You turn that lock , the door opens and then something happens . Now this something is usually for the receiving brain cell to fire an electric signal , a very discreet all or nothing signal , kind of like shooting a rifle .

The cell that receives the glutamate signal either fires or it doesn't . Basically , there's no in between For brain cells , this massive electrical signal is called an action potential . Every second of the day , billions of cells in your brain are actively communicated like this , sending neurotransmitters to each other and triggering action potentials .

And of the various different neurotransmitters our brain cells use , glutamate is the most abundant . It is found in relatively high concentrations throughout the brain . It's thought to be involved in up to 70% of brain cell connections . Now glutamate is also the primary excite to be neurotransmitter in the brain .

In other words , it's the primary neurotransmitter that triggers brain cells into becoming active and firing action potentials . Now there are other neurotransmitters , like a GABA , that actually make it more difficult for cells to fire off action potentials . Those types of neurotransmitters are recording called inhibitory neurotransmitters .

Aside from its role as the major excite to be neurotransmitter , glutamate is also critical to the normal development of the brain , especially during gestation . We will return to both of these points later on . Now , for the longest time scientists did not appreciate the role of glutamate in addiction . But in the past 20 years or so this has changed .

Research on glutamate has exploded and scientists now understand that , in one way or another , most recreational drugs interfere with the normal functioning of the glutamate system . These include things like cocaine and vitamins , opiates like morphine and heroin , nicotine , cannabis and , last but not least , alcohol . So let's see what happens when alcohol meets glutamate .

So we're going to look at glutamate and acute alcohol intoxication . So when scientists talk about the effects of a drug like alcohol on a certain chemical or structure in the brain , they distinguish between acute and chronic effects . So we'll look at the acute effects first .

These are basically what happens in the brain after one drinking session , whether the person is a heavy drinker , a social drinker or was never even drank before in their life . Now these acute effects appear a few seconds or even minutes , and go away after a few hours .

Starting in the late 1980s , scientists discovered that even low levels of alcohol inhibit the normal function of the glutamate system . In other words , they affect the normal function of glutamate receptors , so that cells cannot be excited as usual . Remember what we said earlier about receptors .

Well , these are the structures on the surface of the receiving brain cells upon which the glutamate molecules bind , and it's through these structures that glutamate transmits the excitary signal to the cell . So by inhibiting the action of glutamate receptors , alcohol then prevents glutamate from exciting the neurons . So alcohol doesn't act directly on the glutamate itself .

It doesn't stop your body from synthesizing glutamate or distributing it throughout the body . Instead , it targets the structures through which glutamate exerts its biological effects . Remember that glutamate is an excitary neurotransmitter , which means that it kicks the brain into action by prompting itself to fire off more action potentials .

So what exactly happens when you block it ? Well , you start to get symptoms like drowsiness , lethargy , slowing down thinking and movements , reduction in reaction times and things like this , or the fun stuff that's supposed to happen after a few drinks . Now the most severe symptom of alcohol's inhibition of glutamate is also a very tragic one .

Now , remember we mentioned earlier that glutamate is critical to the early development of the nervous system . Well , fetal alcohol syndrome , which affects tens of thousands of children annually in the US , is marked by facial abnormalities , mental impairments and slow growth .

So scientists have found that even relatively low levels of alcohol can produce lasting changes in the glutamate system of the fetus . Consequently , sustained drinking by a pregnant mother during pregnancy can lead to permanently decreased levels of glutamate functioning .

And because glutamate is so critical to the developing brain's plasticity , the consequences are both severe and , sadly , irreversible . So we saw how alcohol affects glutamate in the short term after a few drinks . But what about the long term ? What happens to the glutamate system when the brain is flooded by alcohol on a daily basis for years on end ?

Well , our nervous system is constantly in search of equilibrium , in other words , it likes to maintain certain parameters with strictly controlled ranges . Now , in heavy , chronic drinking , the challenge for the brain is to maintain adequate levels of glutamate activity in the face of constant inhibition by alcohol .

The brain's solution is simple Increase the number of glutamate receptors on the surface of the brain cells , as well as their activity levels . So now you have a larger number of more active but compromised receptors . So as long as alcohol consumption continues , the glutamate system manages to limp along in this unnatural state .

But as soon as alcohol is stopped , the levels of glutamate activity go through the roof . You now have an increased number of receptors , but they are no longer being inhibited . So with the ethanol no longer putting the brakes on the system , the cells become over-excited from the glutamate surge and many will eventually die .

Scientists call this excite toxicity Brain cells firing action potentials uncontrollably to the point that they eventually die . So it is this state of super excitable brain cells that leads to the unpleasant symptoms that we associate with severe alcohol withdrawal . The symptoms of alcohol withdrawal can be broadly split into three phases .

So the first phase covers the first 24 hours and includes trembling , anxiety , irritability , nausea and vomiting . Basically , at this point your brain cells are waking up to the fact that there is no longer any alcohol in the system and they are starting to go into overdrive from the excess glutamate activity .

The second phase happens between 24 and 48 hours after the last drink and is a lot more serious . It can include confusion and even seizures . Now the third and final stage is characterized by delirium . Here the person is very confused , disoriented and often full on hallucinating .

But , ladies and gentlemen , as scary as these symptoms are , you should bear in mind that they will only happen in 5-20% of patients who actually enter ed detoxification facilities .

The specialised doctors who work in these facilities will support the patients with the appropriate supportive care , making sure the patient stays out of harm's way while the withdrawal symptoms play themselves out .

The majority of problem drinkers who stop drinking on their own will only experience the milder symptoms of withdrawal , which is anxiety , irritability and maybe even some trembling . If you are ever worried about this , then just go and check with a health professional .