An alcohol blackout is almost as if the ability to process and retain memories is ineffectual. It's amnesia in a way, but it's caused by alcohol abuse and not a traumatic event or physical injury.

These tend to occur when lower levels of alcohol are taken. It is possible that you may forget names or exactly what you were conversating about during the middle of your converstation. These partially interfere with memory formation during intoxication. Certain times people may recall if they are given the hint about what occurred.

When a person has a complete alcoholic blackout, he is still physically and mentally able to perform actions although he may seem not like his usual self. In such kind of unconsciousness - one is still aware, but will not be able remember anything that has passed during his unconsciousness. There is no way to prompt or remind the person to remember anything that happened. Apparently the ability to transfer and imprint memory of the storage of the present and short term to the long term is blocked.

In most cases, blackouts are a result of binge drinking, that is, consuming an excessive quantity of liquor in a brief period of time. This research looks at the effects of alcohol consumption on memory , pointing out the correlation between the quantity of alcohol consumed and the degree of memory impairment .

Age and sex should be taken into account , women being less able to metabolize alcohol making them more susceptible to its effect A womans' tendency to black out more easily probably results from differences in how men and women metabolize alcohol. Females have more tendencies towards the milder forms of alcohol-induced memory impairments, even though consumpted same quantity as like men.