{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,20]],"date-time":"2026-09-20T01:09:53Z","timestamp":1789866593287,"version":"4.0.1"},"reference-count":48,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"11","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2009,11,6]],"date-time":"2009-11-06T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1257465600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/3.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJERPH"],"abstract":"<jats:p>For a long time, alcohol was thought to exert a general depressant effect on the central nervous system (CNS). However, currently the consensus is that specific regions of the brain are selectively vulnerable to the acute effects of alcohol. An alcohol-induced blackout is the classic example; the subject is temporarily unable to form new long-term memories while relatively maintaining other skills such as talking or even driving. A recent study showed that alcohol can cause retrograde memory impairment, that is, blackouts due to retrieval impairments as well as those due to deficits in encoding. Alcoholic blackouts may be complete (en bloc) or partial (fragmentary) depending on severity of memory impairment. In fragmentary blackouts, cueing often aids recall. Memory impairment during acute intoxication involves dysfunction of episodic memory, a type of memory encoded with spatial and social context. Recent studies have shown that there are multiple memory systems supported by discrete brain regions, and the acute effects of alcohol on learning and memory may result from alteration of the hippocampus and related structures on a cellular level. A rapid increase in blood alcohol concentration (BAC) is most consistently associated with the likelihood of a blackout. However, not all subjects experience blackouts, implying that genetic factors play a role in determining CNS vulnerability to the effects of alcohol. This factor may predispose an individual to alcoholism, as altered memory function during intoxication may affect an individual\u201fs alcohol expectancy; one may perceive positive aspects of intoxication while unintentionally ignoring the negative aspects. Extensive research on memory and learning as well as findings related to the acute effects of alcohol on the brain may elucidate the mechanisms and impact associated with the alcohol- induced blackout.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph6112783","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2009,11,6]],"date-time":"2009-11-06T12:33:39Z","timestamp":1257510819000},"page":"2783-2792","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":66,"title":["Alcohol-Induced Blackout"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"6","author":[{"given":"Hamin","family":"Lee","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Seoul St. Mary\u201fs Hospital Department of Psychiatry, Catholic University of Korea, Catholic Medical Center \/ 505 Banpo-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul 137-701, Korea"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sungwon","family":"Roh","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Mental Health Research, Seoul National Hospital \/ 51 Neungdong-ro, Gwangjin-gu, Seoul 143-711, Korea"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Dai Jin","family":"Kim","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Seoul St. Mary\u201fs Hospital Department of Psychiatry, Catholic University of Korea, Catholic Medical Center \/ 505 Banpo-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul 137-701, Korea"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2009,11,6]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2223","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(09)60746-7","article-title":"Global burden of disease and injury and economic cost attributable to alcohol use and alcohol-use disorders","volume":"373","author":"Rehm","year":"2009","journal-title":"Lancet"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"628","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1530-0277.2003.tb04399.x","article-title":"Fragmentary blackouts: their etiology and effect on alcohol expectancies","volume":"27","author":"Hartzler","year":"2003","journal-title":"Alcohol Clin. Exp. Res"},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"673","DOI":"10.15288\/qjsa.1952.13.673","article-title":"Phases of alcohol addiction","volume":"13","author":"Jellinek","year":"1952","journal-title":"Q. J. Stud. Alcohol"},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"205","DOI":"10.1081\/ADA-120029874","article-title":"Experiential aspects of alcohol-induced blackouts among college students","volume":"30","author":"White","year":"2004","journal-title":"Am. J. Drug Alcohol Abuse"},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"88","DOI":"10.1002\/(SICI)1098-1063(2000)10:1<88::AID-HIPO10>3.0.CO;2-L","article-title":"Ethanol, memory, and hippocampal function: a review of recent findings","volume":"10","author":"White","year":"2000","journal-title":"Hippocampus"},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"435","DOI":"10.1016\/S0026-895X(25)11220-0","article-title":"Effects of low concentrations of ethanol on the fluidity of spin-labeled erythrocyte and brain membranes","volume":"13","author":"Chin","year":"1977","journal-title":"Mol. Pharmacol"},{"key":"ref_7","first-page":"186","article-title":"What happened? Alcohol, memory blackouts, and the brain","volume":"27","author":"White","year":"2003","journal-title":"Alcohol Res. Health"},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"315","DOI":"10.1080\/09652149542292","article-title":"Alcohol amnesia","volume":"90","author":"Goodwin","year":"1995","journal-title":"Addiction"},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"23","DOI":"10.3109\/10826089409047367","article-title":"Drinking-induced blackouts among young adults: results from a national longitudinal study","volume":"29","author":"Jennison","year":"1994","journal-title":"Int. J. Addict"},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"299","DOI":"10.1016\/j.nlm.2004.06.007","article-title":"The use of acute ethanol administration as a tool to investigate multiple memory systems","volume":"82","author":"Matthews","year":"2004","journal-title":"Neurobiol. Learn. Mem"},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"95","DOI":"10.1016\/S0022-3565(25)12487-7","article-title":"Electrophysiological evidence that ethanol alters function of medial septal area without affecting lateral septal function","volume":"253","author":"Givens","year":"1990","journal-title":"J. Pharmacol. Exp. Ther"},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"528","DOI":"10.1016\/S0022-3565(25)12720-1","article-title":"Site-specific enhancement of gamma-aminobutyric acid-mediated inhibition of neural activity by ethanol in the rat medial septal area","volume":"254","author":"Givens","year":"1990","journal-title":"J. Pharmacol. Exp. Ther"},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"9","DOI":"10.1016\/0006-8993(93)91483-9","article-title":"Inhibition of NMDA-evoked electrophysiological activity by ethanol in selected brain regions: evidence for ethanol-sensitive and ethanol-insensitive NMDA-evoked responses","volume":"607","author":"Simson","year":"1993","journal-title":"Brain Res"},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"522","DOI":"10.1016\/S0022-3565(25)39547-9","article-title":"Molecular basis for regionally specific action of ethanol on gamma-aminobutyric acidA receptors: generalization to other ligand-gated ion channels","volume":"267","author":"Criswell","year":"1993","journal-title":"J. Pharmacol. Exp. Ther"},{"key":"ref_15","first-page":"125","article-title":"Alcoholism and the brain: an overview","volume":"27","author":"Marinkovic","year":"2003","journal-title":"Alcohol Res. Health"},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"95","DOI":"10.1159\/000077696","article-title":"A comparison of alcohol abusers who have and have not experienced blackouts","volume":"10","year":"2004","journal-title":"Eur. Addict. Res"},{"key":"ref_17","unstructured":"Conrad, H (1986). Time Is All We Have, Arbor House."},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"191","DOI":"10.1176\/ajp.126.2.191","article-title":"Alcoholic \u201cblackouts\u201d: a review and clinical study of 100 alcoholics","volume":"126","author":"Goodwin","year":"1969","journal-title":"Am. J. Psychiatry"},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1033","DOI":"10.1192\/bjp.115.526.1033","article-title":"Phenomenological aspects of the alcoholic \u201cblackout\u201d","volume":"115","author":"Goodwin","year":"1969","journal-title":"Br. J. Psychiatry"},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1181","DOI":"10.1001\/archpedi.153.11.1181","article-title":"Prevalence of alcohol problems among pediatric residents","volume":"153","author":"Knight","year":"1999","journal-title":"Arch. Pediatr. Adolesc. Med"},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"555","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1600-0404.1982.tb03142.x","article-title":"Blackouts increase with age, social class and the frequency of intoxication","volume":"66","author":"Poikolainen","year":"1982","journal-title":"Acta. Neurol. Scand"},{"key":"ref_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"117","DOI":"10.1080\/07448480209596339","article-title":"Prevalence and correlates of alcohol-induced blackouts among college students: results of an e-mail survey","volume":"51","author":"White","year":"2002","journal-title":"J Am Coll Health"},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"616","DOI":"10.15288\/qjsa.1970.31.616","article-title":"Alcohol amnesia. Observations in seven drinking inpatient alcoholics","volume":"31","author":"Ryback","year":"1970","journal-title":"Q. J. Stud. Alcohol"},{"key":"ref_24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"896","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1556-4029.2006.00161.x","article-title":"The association of alcohol-induced blackouts and grayouts to blood alcohol concentrations","volume":"51","author":"Perry","year":"2006","journal-title":"J. Forensic. Sci"},{"key":"ref_25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"257","DOI":"10.1001\/archpsyc.61.3.257","article-title":"Genetic epidemiology of alcohol-induced blackouts","volume":"61","author":"Nelson","year":"2004","journal-title":"Arch. Gen. Psychiatry"},{"key":"ref_26","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"111","DOI":"10.1007\/978-1-4899-1684-6_5","article-title":"Ethanol intoxication and memory. Recent developments and new directions","volume":"5","author":"Lister","year":"1987","journal-title":"Recent Dev. Alcohol"},{"key":"ref_27","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"559","DOI":"10.1016\/j.nlm.2009.07.005","article-title":"A model of episodic memory: Mental time travel along encoded trajectories using grid cells","volume":"92","author":"Hasselmo","year":"2009","journal-title":"Neurobiol. Learn. Mem"},{"key":"ref_28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"716","DOI":"10.1002\/hipo.20208","article-title":"Hippocampal place cells, context, and episodic memory","volume":"16","author":"Smith","year":"2006","journal-title":"Hippocampus"},{"key":"ref_29","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"708","DOI":"10.1037\/0033-295X.89.6.708","article-title":"Domains of recollection","volume":"89","author":"Baddeley","year":"1982","journal-title":"Psychol. Rev"},{"key":"ref_30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"293","DOI":"10.1037\/0278-7393.6.3.293","article-title":"Alcohol and elaborative schemas for sentences","volume":"6","author":"Birnbaum","year":"1980","journal-title":"J. Exp. Psychol. Hum. Learn"},{"key":"ref_31","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"275","DOI":"10.1016\/j.brainresrev.2003.09.002","article-title":"Impairments in spatial learning and memory: ethanol, allopregnanolone, and the hippocampus","volume":"43","author":"Silvers","year":"2003","journal-title":"Brain Res. Brain Res. Rev"},{"key":"ref_32","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"154","DOI":"10.1016\/S0006-8993(00)02629-9","article-title":"Effects of ethanol on hippocampal place-cell and interneuron activity","volume":"876","author":"White","year":"2000","journal-title":"Brain Res"},{"key":"ref_33","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2950","DOI":"10.1523\/JNEUROSCI.06-10-02950.1986","article-title":"Human amnesia and the medial temporal region: enduring memory impairment following a bilateral lesion limited to field CA1 of the hippocampus","volume":"6","author":"Squire","year":"1986","journal-title":"J. Neurosci"},{"key":"ref_34","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"31","DOI":"10.1038\/361031a0","article-title":"A synaptic model of memory: long-term potentiation in the hippocampus","volume":"361","author":"Bliss","year":"1993","journal-title":"Nature"},{"key":"ref_35","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"9","DOI":"10.1016\/S0169-328X(01)00161-9","article-title":"Evidence for a role for GABA(A) and NMDA receptors in ethanol inhibition of long-term potentiation","volume":"94","author":"Schummers","year":"2001","journal-title":"Brain Res. Mol. Brain Res"},{"key":"ref_36","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"320","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1530-0277.1995.tb01509.x","article-title":"Differential sensitivity of NMDA receptor-mediated synaptic potentials to ethanol in immature versus mature hippocampus","volume":"19","author":"Swartzwelder","year":"1995","journal-title":"Alcohol Clin. Exp. Res"},{"key":"ref_37","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1372","DOI":"10.1523\/JNEUROSCI.10-04-01372.1990","article-title":"NMDA receptor-mediated synaptic excitation selectively inhibited by ethanol in hippocampal slice from adult rat","volume":"10","author":"Lovinger","year":"1990","journal-title":"J. Neurosci"},{"key":"ref_38","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"98","DOI":"10.1007\/s002139900349","article-title":"State-dependent effects of alcohol on explicit memory: the role of semantic associations","volume":"149","author":"Weissenborn","year":"2000","journal-title":"Psychopharmacology (Berl)"},{"key":"ref_39","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2407","DOI":"10.1523\/JNEUROSCI.23-06-02407.2003","article-title":"What neural correlates underlie successful encoding and retrieval? A functional magnetic resonance imaging study using a divided attention paradigm","volume":"23","author":"Kensinger","year":"2003","journal-title":"J. Neurosci"},{"key":"ref_40","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"361","DOI":"10.1007\/s00213-008-1294-5","article-title":"Alcohol-induced retrograde memory impairment: prevention by caffeine","volume":"201","author":"Spinetta","year":"2008","journal-title":"Psychopharmacology (Berl)"},{"key":"ref_41","unstructured":"Fields, R (1992). Drugs and Alcohol in Perspective, Brown & Benchmark."},{"key":"ref_42","unstructured":"Marlatt, G, and Gordon, J (1985). Relapse prevention, Guilford Press."},{"key":"ref_43","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"84","DOI":"10.1037\/0033-2909.98.1.84","article-title":"Motivation for treatment: a review with special emphasis on alcoholism","volume":"98","author":"Miller","year":"1985","journal-title":"Psychol. Bull"},{"key":"ref_44","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1903","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1530-0277.1998.tb05897.x","article-title":"Individual differences in the biphasic effects of ethanol","volume":"22","author":"Holdstock","year":"1998","journal-title":"Alcohol Clin. Exp. Res"},{"key":"ref_45","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"135","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1530-0277.1993.tb00738.x","article-title":"Anticipated stimulant and sedative effects of alcohol vary with dosage and limb of the blood alcohol curve","volume":"17","author":"Earleywine","year":"1993","journal-title":"Alcohol Clin. Exp. Res"},{"key":"ref_46","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"18","DOI":"10.1037\/0893-164X.15.1.18","article-title":"Activation of alcohol expectancies in memory in relation to limb of the blood alcohol curve","volume":"15","author":"Dunn","year":"2001","journal-title":"Psychol. Addict. Behav"},{"key":"ref_47","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"283","DOI":"10.15288\/jsa.1996.57.283","article-title":"Alcohol outcome expectancies and alcohol use and problems","volume":"57","author":"Wood","year":"1996","journal-title":"J. Stud. Alcohol"},{"key":"ref_48","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"817","DOI":"10.1001\/archpsyc.63.7.817","article-title":"Acetaldehyde involvement in positive and negative alcohol expectancies in han Chinese persons with alcoholism","volume":"63","author":"Hahn","year":"2006","journal-title":"Arch. Gen. Psychiatry"}],"container-title":["International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1660-4601\/6\/11\/2783\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T22:11:34Z","timestamp":1760220694000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1660-4601\/6\/11\/2783"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2009,11,6]]},"references-count":48,"journal-issue":{"issue":"11","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2009,11]]}},"alternative-id":["ijerph6112783"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/ijerph6112783","relation":{},"ISSN":["1660-4601"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1660-4601","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2009,11,6]]}}}