Drunken reaction time?

September 1, 2008 10:12 PM

When I'm sober and attempting to kill a fly, I can't hit it in time. When I'm tipsy, I swat it easily. In reading and conversation, I make connections sooner when drunk than when sober. I've always heard that alcoholism slows reaction time ... so what gives? NOTE: My drunken spelling and grammar errors definitely increase when drunk. Are various functions affected differently by alcohol?
posted by coizero to science & nature (21 comments total)

A tiny voice in your subconscious makes you hesitate before killing an innocent fly when you are sober. After a few cocktails that tiny voice is too busy singing 'Freebird' to take notice of your murderous ways.
posted by ian1977 at 10:20 PM on September 1, 2008 [11 favorites]

^^^ I considered that, but I didn't want to assume. When I was a kid, my mom and I always freed flies instead of killing them. Alcohol may just bypass the guilt.
posted by coizero at 10:26 PM on September 1, 2008

In early stages of intoxication alcohol acts selectively on the suppressor parts of the brain. There is a part which formulates plans constantly, and another part which discards most of those. Alcohol affects the latter more strongly, so plans which you ordinarily would not carry out get turned into action. That's why people get loose and do things when drunk they ordinarily would not do.

And I wouldn't be surprised if impulsive actions like swatting a fly were faster because they weren't impeded by that evaluation.

(Which is to say that I agree fully with ian1977.)
posted by Class Goat at 10:27 PM on September 1, 2008

On making connections, rather than fly-murder: alcohol directly affects self-image. Maybe you do associate better after drinking, but you should take into account the FIGJAM effect when assessing your recollections.
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 10:33 PM on September 1, 2008

I have nothing but anecdotal evidence to offer, but it is common knowledge that, for many people, beer pong/beirut accuracy increases with slight tipsyness. For some reason, throwing a pingpong ball in a little cup is much easier after a few drinks. My boyfriend claims that it increases your ability to focus on the one task at hand while ignoring everything else. I think that perhaps it has to do with loosening up your muscles/reflexes a little.
posted by wuzandfuzz at 10:35 PM on September 1, 2008

From the New Yorker a few weeks ago - perhaps it is just easier for your mind to wander and allow yourself to make the connections after you have a few cocktails:
"As Jung-Beeman and Kounios see it, the insight process is an act of cognitive deliberation—the brain must be focussed on the task at hand—transformed by accidental, serendipitous connections. We must concentrate, but we must concentrate on letting the mind wander... One of the surprising lessons of this research is that trying to force an insight can actually prevent the insight. While it’s commonly assumed that the best way to solve a difficult problem is to focus, minimize distractions, and pay attention only to the relevant details, this clenched state of mind may inhibit the sort of creative connections that lead to sudden breakthroughs. We suppress the very type of brain activity that we should be encouraging."

(not a neuroscientist)
posted by milkrate at 10:38 PM on September 1, 2008 [1 favorite]

Also, I'd like to note that I wrote the original entry while tipsy (I'm still tipsy, actually), so ...

"alcoholism" should be "alcohol"

and

"My drunken spelling and grammar errors definitely increase when drunk." should be "My spelling and grammar errors definitely increase when drunk."


*ahem*
posted by coizero at 10:52 PM on September 1, 2008

Well, having read this the other day, I'd guess that you might be better at swatting the fly when you're a little tipsy precisely because your normal aim is slightly impaired.
posted by scody at 10:53 PM on September 1, 2008

I noticed I used bowl better when I've had a beer, I think it's because it prevents my brain from "overthinking" things and trying to make little corrections. When I tried to apply that to sober bowling, I did really well.

*shrug*
posted by delmoi at 11:10 PM on September 1, 2008

Just as delmoi stated, I too find my skills at bowling, pool and other games increase after a few beers. I have bowled may 10-20 times my entire life and generally score between 70-130 (big range I know). However, two times where I had a few beers before bowling resulted in a 189 and 226...I will likely never see 226 again.

Playing pool, again, I am not that great. Let's call it sub-par. Anyways 2 separate times I have been close to hammered while playing and ran the table (break to finish in one turn). Believe me, I am not good enough to this this. I also find similar results in other games.

I always attributed it to not necessarily being able to focus more easily, but rather being less easily distracted. I know they seem similar but I think my focus is off about 10% but I get interrupted from distractions like 50% less. Have you ever been drunk and just started looking at something or started doing something and then noticed that it is five minutes later? It's not that you were intently focused for five minutes, you were just not distracted by anything cuz you were drunk.

That said, I would like to hear more research/science based explanations (like class goat and milkrate)
posted by sirhensley at 11:29 PM on September 1, 2008

They had this amazing fly scientist on NPR on Friday, Michael Dickinson of Caltech. He said that aiming directly at the fly doesn't work very well, since the fly will have launched itself with its legs, directly away from the incoming swatter, by the time it gets there. He recommended aiming beyond the fly's sitting location to compensate. Maybe when drunk you are trying to aim directly at the fly, but are accidentally hitting beyond that point, which just happens to be the right location.
posted by w0mbat at 12:40 AM on September 2, 2008 [1 favorite]

dr. johnny fever shows us that you're not the only one (i think; i can't watch this because i'm in canada).
posted by klanawa at 1:18 AM on September 2, 2008 [1 favorite]

There's a joke you've probably heard. It has its variants but goes like this:

A Scotsman finds a fly in his pint of beer. What does he do? He picks it out by the wings and says "Spit that out ya wee bastard"

Very, very remote possibility, but while you were focused on other things the flies may have partaken the opportunity for a drink. So it may be just as drunk as you are :)
posted by hungrysquirrels at 4:02 AM on September 2, 2008

I've just been through medical detox. It hits you like any drug. I LOL'd that I'd wake up sober and stumble around and when my neighbors thought I was drunk, I was sober and I got much better the more booze I had in me. When I looked normal I was tanked.

Depending on how much you drink... it's a brain chemistry and nervous system chemistry thing. I looked fucking drunk as hell when I wasn't and not so much so when I was.

I've been sober a couple of times on MeFi... I can spell and type really well (mostly) tanked.
You've hit the same point of OMG stop now, but you might need medical attention, withdrawal is dangerous once you get this far. (yes I'm just out of hospital care).

But yeah, drunk I grab fruit flys out of the air like nothing... but it's because I'm so used to being drunk that sober is weird... I got so bad that I couldn't function without the booze, my body got used to it. Anyways, catching flying things is hard and takes lot's of practice, and it't a bit icky to have a squashed bug in your hands.
posted by zengargoyle at 4:26 AM on September 2, 2008

Maybe your accuracy is unimproved, but your score-keeping degrades, making you think you're more successful when drinking.
posted by theora55 at 4:55 AM on September 2, 2008

Inspector Morse does the same thing. He does his best thinking when assisted by a few pints of best bitter.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 5:15 AM on September 2, 2008

"Maybe your accuracy is unimproved, but your score-keeping degrades, making you think you're more successful when drinking."


That's definitely a possibility with the comprehension ... not so much with the flies.

- Drunk = flies swatted

- Sober = no flies swatted


Pretty straightforward.
posted by coizero at 6:38 AM on September 2, 2008

I'd also note that swatting a fly isn't really about reaction time, if you're doing what I think you're doing. I imagine that you're drinking a bit, a fly lands a couple feet away, it sniffs around in one place doing fly-type stuff, you notice it and swing your hand or a rolled-up newspaper in your hand over to swat it. If I'm not describing what you do, ignore the rest of this.

That's not really about reaction time. It's not that there's an event of some sort after which you react and the time that elapses is crucial. The actual swatting of the fly is something that you initiate, not a reaction. Compare this with driving along at 50 mph and a deer or a child jumping out in front of the car, giving you only a fraction of a second to stop. That's about reaction time, and you don't want to do that drunk. The swatting of the fly is something that you need to do quickly and without hesitation (don't want the fly to notice that big thing moving towards it), and unless you're incredibly drunk, the alcohol won't slow your muscles down too much. Being a little buzzed also probably keeps you from overthinking what you're doing (as several folks mentioned above) and so you get one quick, smooth fly-killing motion.
posted by el_lupino at 8:10 AM on September 2, 2008

I was under the impression that alcohol can increase the blood flow to your brain (and generally, hence the flushed cheeks and broken veins) - and that the extra blood flow can increase the number of connections your brain is making. Here's a link which touches on it.

Also, I have noticed in the past that in the day or two after getting drunk (especially on spirits), my brain is more connect-y, I'm wittier, and I think laterally.

Now where's the vodka?
posted by tiny crocodile at 8:53 AM on September 2, 2008

I too find my skills at bowling, pool and other games increase after a few beers

I have a 'pool window', after a few drinks but before too many, during which I'm Eddie bloody
Charlton. I've never won a game sober (I'm monocular) but it all comes together effortlessly during the brief pool window. I think it's that I've drunk enough to relax and unwind, but also be able to focus - and tiny crocodile's blood flow theory makes sense. I definitely find it easier to interpret the angles correctly after a few.
posted by goo at 10:06 AM on September 2, 2008

I am astonished -nay, aghast- that no one has mentioned the Ballmer Peak.
posted by Cobalt at 2:56 PM on September 2, 2008