A related issue is whether binge drinking causes permanent cognitive deficits. Previous studies of alcohol dependent adolescents suggest that frequent heavy drinking produces long-term memory deficits (Tapert et al., 2001). A study of nondependent binge drinkers examined hangover effects from binge drinking (≥5 drinks on a single occasion), which were assessed with memory tasks to determine whether cognitive deficits were related to the hangover episode or long-term neural damage. Encoding and consolidation processes were impaired, but delayed recall was intact, suggesting that retrieval processes were affected only during the hangover (Verster, van Duin, Volkerts, Schreuder, & Verbaten, 2003). The implications of these findings may be best described by the Federal Aviation Administration's Pilot Safety Guidelines on alcohol and flying: “eight hours from bottle to throttle” (Salazar & Antuñano, 2008, p. 3). Moreover, hours from last drink appear unrelated to cognitive performance (Townshend & Duka, 2005), and neuropsychological impairment from heavy social drinking over 6 months has not been observed (Alterman & Hall, 1989). Thus, the relationship between heavy alcohol consumption and subsequent cognitive capability is unclear.
