Preliminary findings, which are due to be presented at a conference at Keele
University on Thursday, show that suffering from a hangover impacts your
“working memory”.

This governs the ability to hold information in your mind and to manipulate
it, leaving sufferers less able to perform tasks such as mental arithmetic.

Dr Lauren Owen, Marie Curie postdoctoral research fellow at Keele University’s
school of psychology who has been leading the research, said: “Most people
are familiar with the undesirable hangover effects that may arise the day
after excessive drinking.

“What’s more the symptoms of alcohol hangover are not just physiological –
they affect cognitive functioning and mood as well which may lead to
numerous undesirable life consequences.

“Although numerous scientific papers cover the acute effects of alcohol
consumption, researchers have largely neglected the issue of alcohol
hangover.

“We are measuring a large range of cognitive functions using a comprehensive
battery of neuropsychological tests which will reveal the associated brain
functions that may be impaired.

“The findings are preliminary, but so far we are observing that tasks that
rely on what psychologists call ‘working memory’ seem to be most reliably
affected.

“So far we have found there are statistically significant differences on these
tasks compared to the 'no alcohol' condition however the magnitude will not
be fully apparent until all the data is in.”

She said that the early results seem to indicate a 5-10 per cent drop in
performance of working memory and an increase in errors by around 30 per
cent while participants were hung-over.

Reaction times were also marginally slower in those who were hung-over and
represented someone in their 20s having the reaction times equivalent to
someone in their 40s.

The conference will also hear about new evidence from the Netherlands about
how a hangover induced by alcohol can also have an affect on driving
performance.

Researchers have also been examining whether alcohol induced hangovers decline
in with age.

Dr Richard Stephens, a senior psychology lecturer at Keele University who has
organised the conference, said: “People tend to think that hangovers get
worse with age, but we are finding that people generally suffer fewer
hangovers.

“This is probably because older people learn what they can drink and what they
cannot.

“We have still to compare an older person with a younger person who drink the
same thing.”

The scientific cause of hangovers is still not well understood. While it is
thought to be partly a symptom of dehydration, chemicals in the drink are
also thought to play a role.

The main form of alcohol found in drinks is ethanol, which the body breaks
down into chemical called acetate so it can be expelled from the body.

However, it can briefly form a toxic molecule called acetaldehyde during that
process.

Low levels of methanol that can also be found in some alcoholic drinks and
when this is broken down it forms more toxic compounds.

Complex organic molecules known as congeners can also be found in darker
alcoholic drinks and are also thought to worsen a hangover.

It may go someway to explaining why drinking whisky can cause more of a
hangover than drinking vodka.

However, for anyone reading this and suffering from a hangover, Dr Stephens
says there may be some evidence to support one common cure.

He said: “The enzymes in our bodies preferentially break down ethanol over
methanol. “So if they are breaking down methanol and producing these toxins,
drinking a bit more ethanol will help.

“So there is a biological basis for hair of the dog.”

However, he adds, this may simply put off the inevitable and there is evidence
that alcoholics suffer worse hangovers.