Has alcohol destroyed my IQ?

As you might know from my posts, I'm fond of a drink and have been boozing pretty heavily for five years since entering university.
I left high school with 5 As at A level and graduated in the top 15% of my class at Cambridge. I then took the GRE exam two years ago, in which I scored in the 92nd percentile of graduate students for quant reasoning and the 98th for verbal. Though this isn't directly translatable to IQ, the rough estimate is that my GRE scores gave me a standardized IQ of about 138, enough to join MENSA.

Just now I took some aptitude and reasoning practice tests to get acquainted with what's going to be used in the job application process, at least for posts in the civil service and management type occupations. I passed the verbal ones, but was completely flummoxed on the quant. I had a look back over the questions and they were really easy, but with the clock ticking I just couldn't focus and couldn't get that level of understanding straight off like I used to be able to do with graphs and charts.

I've not had much sleep and am high on caffeine at the moment, so maybe that played a part in my edginess and poor performance, but I can't help feeling I've damaged my intelligence through heavy drinking these past years. Can this really happen in such a short space of time (considering the GREs were only in 2006), and is there anything I can do, such as brain exercises, to get back in my stride?

Reply 1

Blátönn

3

Yup, it means you're officially a retard. Take the hat, and sit in the corner.

Reply 2

I Have No Imagination

14

Yes...yes it has. :no:

Reply 3

i.am.lost

18

Maybe you are just going through a bad period. But alcohol is quite harmful in that respect, so I wouldn't completely rule it out.

Reply 4

azurus

I'm afraid the damage is irreversable and suicide is your only option.

Reply 5

ATPB

To alcohol: the cause of -- and solution to -- all of life's problems.

Reply 6

Blátönn

3

Can alcohol, and I'm not talking coma-inducing levels, actually damage your intelligence?

Reply 7

ATPB

The average IQ of a drinker is actually higher than that of a non-drinker, probably due to open-mindedness being linked with intelligence, and possibly also because of improved blood flow to the brain, to which the intake of alcohol is linked, thanks to its positive effects on arteries.

Anecdotal evidence on my part points to no discernible change in intelligence whatsoever, even in older alcoholics, so I'm going to go with no. At least not significantly.

Going by the studies carried out on heavy and life-long alcoholics, it certainly seems to affect the brain somewhat, not entirely negatively either, and it is very debatable whether most of the negative effects even affect intelligence.

If I was looking for something to worry about regarding alcohol's effect on the brain, I'd worry about the increase in the chance of getting Alzheimer's.

Reply 8

curryADD

12

ATPB

The average IQ of a drinker is actually higher than that of a non-drinker, probably due to open-mindedness being linked with intelligence, and possibly also because of improved blood flow to the brain, to which the intake of alcohol is linked, thanks to its positive effects on arteries.

Anecdotal evidence on my part points to no discernible change in intelligence whatsoever, even in older alcoholics, so I'm going to go with no. At least not significantly.

Going by the studies carried out on heavy and life-long alcoholics, it certainly seems to affect the brain somewhat, not entirely negatively either, and it is very debatable whether most of the negative effects even affect intelligence.

If I was looking for something to worry about regarding alcohol's effect on the brain, I'd worry about the increase in the chance of getting Alzheimer's.

great post, you saved me the time! :smile:

Reply 9

i.am.lost

18

ATPB

To alcohol: the cause of -- and solution to -- all of life's problems.

Reply 10

Charli-Lou

Alcohol can cause slips in the memory so that may be why you found it difficult on the easier questions.

This site may be useful:
http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/aa63/aa63.htm

Reply 11

HearTheThunder

17

Charli-Lou

Alcohol can cause slips in the memory so that may be why you found it difficult on the easier questions.

This site may be useful:
http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/aa63/aa63.htm

Dude. This thread is like 2 years old.