The Association of Alcohol‐Induced Blackouts and Grayouts to Blood Alcohol Concentrations

Abstract

The primary aim of this study was to investigate the association between measured blood alcohol concentration (BAC) and the presence and degree of amnesia (no amnesia, grayout, or blackout) in actively drinking subjects. A secondary aim was to determine potential factors other than BAC that contribute to the alcohol-induced memory loss. An interview questionnaire was administered to subjects regarding a recent alcohol associated arrest with a documented BAC greater than 0.08 g/dL for either public intoxication, driving under the influence, or under age drinking was administered. Demographic variables collected included drinking history, family history of alcoholism, presence of previous alcohol-related memory loss during a drinking episode, and drinking behavior during the episode. Memory of the drinking episode was evaluated to determine if either an alcohol-induced grayout (partial anterograde amnesia) or blackout (complete anterograde amnesia) occurred. Differences in (1) mean total number of drinks ingested before arrest, (2) gulping of drinks, and (3) BAC at arrest were found for those having blackouts compared with no amnesia; while differences in drinking more than planned were found between the no amnesia and grayout groups. A strong linear relationship between BAC and predicted probability of memory loss, particularly for blackouts was obvious. This finding clinically concludes that subjects with BAC of 310 g/dL or greater have a 0.50 or greater probability of having an alcoholic blackout.

Drinking Motives in the Prospective Prediction of Unique Alcohol-Related Consequences in College Students

“…Drinkers seeking alcohol's positively reinforcing effects (i.e., those reporting enhancement motives) may not simply drink in larger overall quantities, but may drink faster or in larger sips, a style of drinking that may place them at greater risk for blackouts (Goodwin, 1995;Goodwin et al, 1969;Perry et al, 2006). The increased risk for social/ interpersonal problems among those reporting higher enhancement motives may be a result of the contexts in which enhancement-motivated drinking takes place.…”

Influence of Alcohol Use on Neural Response to Go/No-Go Task in College Drinkers

“…Behavioral measures such as number of blackouts may be indicators of rapid alcohol consumption (ie, gulping rather than drinking more steadily and slowly), which may in part reflect poor impulse control (Goodwin, 1995;Perry et al, 2006). Previous work has also demonstrated increased frontocerebellar response to a Go/No-Go task in substancenaive youth who later experience alcohol-related blackouts, suggesting pre-existing abnormalities in inhibitory processing that underlie blackout propensity (Wetherill et al, 2013).…”

Alcohol-Induced Blackouts and Other Negative Outcomes During the Transition Out of College

“…In fact, alcohol-induced blackouts have been reported by roughly half of college drinkers (White et al, 2002) and are commonly seen with a quick rise in BAC as the result of rapid, excessive intake of alcohol (Perry et al, 2006;Ryback, 1970). Indeed, studies have repeatedly shown that blackouts are a consequence of heavy drinking in college students (Barnett et al, 2014;Read et al, 2008).…”