The Nuance
The Science of Alcohol Blackouts
Heavy drinking impacts the parts of your brain that store memories
In 2006, a 24-year-old Seattle man was arrested and charged with the murder of four people — two women and two children — who were stabbed to death in their home.
The evidence against the man was considerable and included the fact that he’d tried to burn the house down to conceal the crime. During his trial, he claimed that he’d drunk almost three fifths of vodka, blacked out, and couldn’t remember killing anyone. His attorneys argued that his inebriation and memory loss cast some doubt on his guilt.
The so-called “blackout defense” has a long history in criminal trials. While it can’t excuse criminal behavior, there are situations when blacking out is considered a mitigating factor — something that may help a defendant avoid the harshest legal punishment.
In the case of the Seattle man, the jury was not persuaded. The man was sentenced to death. However, that trial and others like it have helped instigate scientific research into the phenomenon of alcohol-induced memory loss.
The blackout research has yielded some surprising findings.
