Alcohol does not make us see people more attractive than they really are

Mar 4, 2013 13:00 GMT  ·  By
Alcohol does not change our perception of how attractive the people around us are, brain expert says
   Alcohol does not change our perception of how attractive the people around us are, brain expert says

Although it is very much true that alcohol makes the human brain work in rather unforeseeable ways, it appears that having a tad too much to drink does nothing to alter our opinions concerning how attractive one person or another happens to be.

To cut a long story short: the so-called “beer goggles” that people have been going on and on about for several decades now are no more and no less than myth, explains brain expert Dr. Amanda Ellison, now working with the Department of Psychology at Durham University.

Despite her not approving of the idea that alcohol can make people label other individuals as more attractive than they really are, Dr. Amanda Ellison does not deny the fact that alcohol consumption can sometimes lead to displays of what some might label as promiscuous behavior.

Still, this brain expert explains that such behaviors are merely a result of an individual's losing their ability to control their natural impulses.

Thus, whereas the slightest amount of alcohol (about half a pint of beer) is more than enough to shut down those parts of our brain which are in charge of making rational decisions, one would have to drink an impressive quantity of spirits to succeed in shutting down the part of their brain known to control mating behavior.

According to Business Insider, Dr. Amanda Ellison's exact words on the matter at hand were as follows:

“The area of the brain that makes us want to mate keeps functioning, no matter how much we drink, meaning that people can still assess how visually-appealing others are.”

“We still see others basically as they are. There is no imagined physical transformation - just more desire. Alcohol switches off the rational and decision making areas of the brain while leaving the areas to do with mating desire relatively intact, and so this explains beer goggles,” the brain researcher wished to emphasize.