Alcohol and IQ: A Deep Dive into Alcohol’s Effects on Cognition

The correlation between alcohol and IQ undoubtedly exists, but there’s still some debate on its exact nature. Some researchers claim that alcohol in all its forms and quantities is bad for the brain, while others believe that moderate amounts aren’t only safe to drink but may even be beneficial for cognition.

To clarify some of the confusion, we’ve consulted our experts and asked them to explain how alcohol affects the brain, whether geniuses consume alcohol, and whether alcohol addiction and IQ are somehow related.

Here is what they’ve told us.

Key Takeaways

• Alcohol and IQ are inversely correlated; those who binge or drink heavily typically have lower IQ scores than those who only drink occasionally or moderately.
• Alcoholism affects IQ by lowering the score by a few points, but this decrease usually isn’t permanent and lasts only as long as alcohol abuse.
• Due to their open-mindedness and curiosity, geniuses often drink but rarely do it to an unhealthy extent.
• Aside from alcohol, factors such as the environment, genetics, and mental health disorders affect IQ.

Alcohol & IQ Relationship

Alcohol and IQ Relationship

The relationship between alcohol and IQ is typically considered to be inverse—the higher your alcohol consumption, the lower your IQ. Since alcohol abuse can lead to temporary or permanent brain damage, this phenomenon is not particularly surprising.

However, the alcohol and IQ correlation isn’t entirely straightforward. While high alcohol consumption is somewhat linked with a lower IQ, there’s some debate surrounding moderate, occasional, and rare drinking.

Namely, moderate, rare, and occasional drinkers may, in fact, have higher IQs than their teetotaler peers. That’s because high intelligence is generally linked with greater openness to alcohol and drug consumption but not necessarily addiction to either substance.

In other words, people with high IQs don’t usually avoid alcohol, but they consume it responsibly, which is in line with the hypothesis that higher intelligence results in a healthier lifestyle.

Interestingly enough, moderate alcohol consumption may actually benefit cognition and prevent cognitive decline associated with aging, especially when it comes to word recall and vocabulary retention.

High IQ in Children and Future Alcohol Consumption

People who exhibit greater cognitive ability as children tend to drink more alcohol as adolescents and adults.

Although it’s not entirely clear why this is the case, researchers hypothesize that it could be related to high IQs naturally gravitating towards novel experiences.

Similar conclusions have been made about adolescents who drink as opposed to those who don’t—the former tend to have higher IQs. However, excessive drinking at a young age, while the brain is still developing, can lead to permanent damage and lower intelligence.

More on this in the next section.

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Does Alcohol Permanently Lower IQ?

Alcohol can permanently lower IQ, but it doesn’t necessarily do so. Ultimately, that depends on the level of alcohol consumption and how great the alcohol-related brain damage actually is.

Scientists have found that heavy and binge drinking often leads to shrinkage in the hippocampal region, the area of the brain responsible for thinking, memorizing, and other important cognitive processes. As a result, people who drink heavily may experience impaired cognition, memory loss, and a drop in IQ.

However, cognitive skills and IQ generally bounce back to their original levels once alcohol consumption is reduced or stopped entirely. Because of that, scientists believe that alcohol doesn’t actually kill neurons—instead, brain atrophy is likely related to fluid shifts within the brain.

Namely, the volume of cerebrospinal fluid in the brain increases with heavy alcohol consumption, which results in higher pressure on the brain tissue. That, in turn, leads to decreased brain function and impaired cognition.

In addition, alcohol weakens brain connectivity and neuroplasticity by disrupting synaptic transmission. In other words, synapses, points of connection between two brain cells, can’t send and receive signals as effectively as they could in an alcohol-free brain.

Your Brain on Alcohol

Your Brain on Alcohol

Although we don’t know exactly how much alcohol lowers IQ in terms of points, we do know how overconsumption affects cognition overall.

Here are some of the ways alcohol abuse may affect your mental processes:

• Alcohol-related dementia. In many ways, alcohol-related dementia has similar symptoms to regular dementia—memory loss, personality changes, impaired learning ability, and difficulty employing clear and logical thinking. However, all these symptoms are likely to improve when the patient stops drinking.
• Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome. This syndrome is caused by the decreased absorption of vitamin B1, which usually results from alcohol abuse. Wernicke-Korsakoff causes inflammation of the brain and, when left untreated, may lead to permanent damage and dementia-like symptoms.
• Decreased judgment. Alcoholism is often related to poor decision-making skills and an increased likelihood of engaging in risky behavior. That’s because alcohol lowers inhibitions but also affects cognition as a whole, decreasing your ability to reason logically.

Do Geniuses Drink Alcohol?

Geniuses drink alcohol, but they usually keep their consumption moderate or occasional. In other words, they tend to prioritize healthier lifestyles and avoid the damaging effects of alcohol on the brain.

That said, while a link between a high IQ and alcoholism doesn’t exist, there’s no doubt that gifted people are frequently more open to alcohol and other mind-altering substances. Generally speaking, they are very curious and enjoy gathering various experiences that stimulate their minds.

This aligns well with the finding that children with high IQs grow into adolescents and young adults who are prone to drinking alcohol. Since IQ doesn’t drastically change with age, these children usually become highly intelligent adults and, thus, more likely to seek exciting experiences.

Does Alcohol Help With Taking an IQ Test?

It’s a well-known fact that alcohol improves foreign language skills, especially the spoken element—after all, it lowers inhibitions and allows you to speak without fear of making mistakes or sounding stupid.

But would taking an IQ test while drunk have the same effect? Actually, that’s highly unlikely. As mentioned before, alcohol decreases logical reasoning and negatively affects short-term memory, both of which are important aspects measured on an IQ test.

So, it’s always better to take an IQ test when you’re sober and well-rested to get an accurate picture of your intelligence. In fact, if you meet both of these conditions right now, complete our expertly designed IQtest.net and learn how developed your cognition actually is.

Alcohol and IQ: What Else Affects the Intelligence Quotient?

An alcoholic drink being poured

Now that we have a better understanding of the effect of alcohol on IQ, we should also explore other factors that may contribute to or damage intelligence. Some of the more important ones include the environment, genetics, and mental health disorders.

Below, we explore each of them in more depth.

#1. Environment

Environment plays a vital role in determining intelligence—the more supportive it is of a child’s intellectual pursuits, the more cognition will develop.

An excellent example is Judit Polgar, a Hungarian chess grandmaster whose father deliberately set out to create a genius. To achieve this, he homeschooled her and her two sisters, raising them in an environment focused on nurturing their intelligence.

As a result, Judit is said to have an IQ of 170, and she held the number one spot in women’s chess for 25 years before retiring. Although she achieved the highest success, both of her sisters grew up into impressively intelligent women who also excelled at chess.

Conversely, an unsupportive environment can lead to stagnation, even in naturally gifted children. If the brain isn’t exposed to proper stimulation, it can’t develop new neural connections, and, eventually, it uses its plasticity and ability to quickly pick up new skills and information.

#2. Genetics

As important as the environment is for the development of IQ, the largest part of intelligence is actually determined by genetics. According to research conducted on twins, approximately 50–80% of intelligence depends on the parents.

For this reason, it’s fairly common for highly intelligent parents to have children with high IQs and low IQ parents to have a highly intelligent child. However, other combinations are not unheard of since intelligence is largely a polygenic trait, and factors other than genetics can’t be disregarded either.

#3. Mental Health Disorders

Although there is some speculation that people with high IQs are more likely to develop mental disorders, there’s no conclusive evidence to prove this hypothesis. However, there is evidence that anxiety, depression, and ADHD negatively affect cognition and lead to brain fog and similar conditions.

This negative effect isn’t permanent, though. Typically, once the patient’s condition improves, their mind becomes clearer, too, and they can use their cognition more successfully.

Final Thoughts

You don’t have to give up on alcohol consumption entirely to preserve your cognition, but you should be mindful of your drinking pattern and quantity. As you have seen, alcohol and IQ have a somewhat complicated relationship, but for the most part, it’s clear that it has very few benefits for intelligence.

So, instead, try to give your body and brain the nutrients they need and keep your mind stimulated. That’s a surefire way to keep your cognition and IQ intact and even develop them further.

Also Read:

Drugs and IQ: Correlations Between Addiction and Intelligence

7 Potential Causes of Brain Fog

Do People With High IQs Read Faster?