# How does alcohol cause drunkenness? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 28, 2003, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-alcohol-cause-drunkenness/177958 "2003-05-28T05:10:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Muad\_Dib](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/35a633/32.png) [@Muad\_Dib](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muad_Dib)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2003, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-alcohol-cause-drunkenness/177958/1 "2003-05-28T05:10:07Z")
I have actually had a much harder time finding this answer then I expected. So, how does it do its magic? ---
**Author:** ![Dignan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f07891/32.png) [@Dignan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dignan)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2003, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-alcohol-cause-drunkenness/177958/2 "2003-05-28T05:32:24Z")
There’s always [How Stuff Works](http://science.howstuffworks.com/alcohol.htm). The site is filled with all sorts of useful and fun information. ---
**Author:** ![Muad\_Dib](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/35a633/32.png) [@Muad\_Dib](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muad_Dib)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2003, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-alcohol-cause-drunkenness/177958/3 "2003-05-28T06:06:08Z")
AAARRRGGGHHH!!! It still does not answer anything! It just says **what** alcohol does, not _how_ it does it. Just like every other book and website. ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2003, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-alcohol-cause-drunkenness/177958/4 "2003-05-28T07:46:29Z")
In that case I don’t understand the question. What exactly do you mean by “how it does it”? That site goes into quite a bit of detail on the biochemical processes that cause drunkenness. FOr example: > [@](#): > > Alcohol acts primarily on the nerve cells within the brain. Alcohol interferes with communication between nerve cells and all other cells, suppressing the activities of excitatory nerve pathways and increasing the activities of inhibitory nerve pathways. > > For example, this article talks about the ability of alcohol (and inhaled anesthetics) to enhance the effects of the neurotransmitter GABA, which is an inhibitory neurotransmitter… What exactly are you looking for if not that kind of information? ---
**Author:** ![Muad\_Dib](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/35a633/32.png) [@Muad\_Dib](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muad_Dib)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2003, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-alcohol-cause-drunkenness/177958/5 "2003-05-28T19:52:48Z")
Ahhh. I was under the impression that alcohol worked by binding to hemogloben causing it to become less eficient in oxeygen transfer, thus causing the effects of drunkenness. ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2003, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-alcohol-cause-drunkenness/177958/6 "2003-05-28T21:51:39Z")
Nah. Cyanide works that way. Alcohol is just a standard depressant. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2003, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-alcohol-cause-drunkenness/177958/7 "2003-05-28T21:52:59Z")
By drinking it, of course. ---
**Author:** ![USCDiver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uscdiver/32/354_2.png) [@USCDiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/USCDiver)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2003, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-alcohol-cause-drunkenness/177958/8 "2003-05-29T00:32:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Blake \* > \*\*Cyanide works that way. \*\* I believe you’re thinking about carbon monoxide which binds to hemoglobin forming carboxyhemoglobin. Cyanide is an electron transport chain decoupler. It works by causing cells to sort of rev their engines in neutral. Alcohol does indeed work by binding to the GABA receptor (that’s [symbol]g[/symbol]-amniobutyric acid if you’re interested); other drugs affecting this receptor include benzodiazepines (Valium, Ativan, Xanax) and barbiturates. ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2003, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-alcohol-cause-drunkenness/177958/9 "2003-05-29T00:51:40Z")
> [@](#): > > Cyanide is an electron transport chain decoupler. It works by causing cells to sort of rev their engines in neutral. Well there you go. I though CN had the same mode of action as CO.