By . Emma Innes . PUBLISHED: . 05:34 EST, 4 March 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 09:57 EST, 4 March 2013 . It has always been said a few stiff drinks make the plainest face more inviting - but ‘beer goggles’ do not make us think people are more attractive than they are, experts have claimed. It is rather a fluke of nature that alcohol closes down the section of the mind that stops us acting on impulse long before it deadens the ‘reptilian’ part responsible for our sexual urges, says Dr Amanda Ellison. The area of the brain that makes us want to mate is the oldest part - and sited so far down it keeps functioning however much we drink - until we are ready to pass out. 'Beer goggles' do not make us think people are more attractive than they are, brain expert Dr Amanda Ellison claims . Dr Ellison says it is a myth that beer goggles fool us into thinking someone is more attractive than they really are. But even relatively small amounts of alcohol will stop the various parts of the brain working properly together. Dr Ellison, senior lecturer in the Department of Psychology at Durham University, has been pulling together a range of research into how alcohol affects the brain, as the nation’s drink problem increases. She says that while evolution had made women more choosy about who they go to bed with, both sexes are looking for a soul mate - and personality is just as important as looks in selecting a partner. However, all this goes out of the window when we drink because of the sequence in which alcohol acts on areas of the brain. She said: ‘Alcohol switches off the rational and decision making areas of the brain while leaving the areas to do with sexual desire relatively intact, and so this explains beer goggles. ‘We still see others basically as they are. There is no imagined physical transformation - just more desire.’ However, a number of previous studies have suggested we start seeing things when the opposite sex and alcohol are involved. Alcohol affects the part of the mind responsible for impulse before the part responsible for sexual urges, claims scientist . A Bristol University experiment claimed people do appear more attractive to both sexes after they have had a drink. American research maintained that men rated pictures of women more highly after looking at alcohol-linked words and London’s Roehampton University claimed men and women had problems rating faces for attractiveness after drinking. However, Dr Ellison’s book, Getting Your Head Around the Brain, argues men and women do not see each other any differently no matter how much they drink. But after as little as half a pint of beer alcohol starts bonding with the receptors of the upper lobes which control decision-making. The more primitive section of the brain in the cortex below which governs our sex drive is carrying on unaffected. Normally, this part of the brain is kept in check by the upper lobes. So, while sober we are constantly weighing up questions of looks versus personality in our search for the right soul mate. When sober you would look at a member of the opposite sex and decide you were not attracted to them. But that decision making process was impaired by alcohol. However, a bag of crisps or peanuts could stop things getting out of hand, Dr Ellison says. ‘You would have some food in your stomach and the salt would aid rehydration by retaining water and stopping you pee-ing it all away,’ she said. The first area of the brain to be affected by alcohol is cerebellum - the motor control area. Next to go is the frontal lobes which control our rational decision-making. Sexual desire is in the reptilian section of the mind under the cortex. Even though women use both sides of the brain to make sexual decisions this was no defence against alcohol. 'Beer goggles' affect both sides of the brain, particularly the frontal lobes which we use to make decisions and recognise the consequences of our actions. The other thing which informs sexual desire is pheromones which we can smell and cause us to be attracted subconsciously to people with different immune systems so off-spring will have elements of both and be stronger. Once the brain started rehydrating and the alcohol loosened its grip on the receptors of the brain it had bound to and rational thinking returned. Dr Ellison said: ‘Memory may not come back but rationality does. As the brain rehydrates and the toxins are flushed away the alcohol ceases to bind to the brain receptors and the frontal lobes kick back in.’ She believes that the booze culture needed more research before a whole new generation was born to couples who could not stand each other. While love-hate relationships have now been largely explained away by pheromones - which trigger the basic instinct to mate - drink-fuelled romance was being driven by social change. Traditionally, it was the man who - having had one too many - made the advances while the more sober woman decided whether to accept or reject. But with more and more men and women being flung together by booze, Dr Ellison argues it is vital to understand how the rules of attraction are bent by over indulgence: ‘We have got to try and work out what the social effect alcohol is having now in an era when contraception is widely available and we have a culture where drinking is the norm,’ she said. ‘New studies are going to be very interesting in how it affects the rules of attraction. ‘Pheromones may be turned off by beer goggles. It’s entirely possible they are - but we don’t know.’
'Beer goggles' do not make us think people are more attractive, says Durham University expert Dr Ellison .
Alcohol closes the part of the brain responsible for impulse before the part responsible for sexual desire .
By . Emma Innes . PUBLISHED: . 05:34 EST, 4 March 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 09:57 EST, 4 March 2013 . It has always been said a few stiff drinks make the plainest face more inviting - but ‘beer goggles’ do not make us think people are more attractive than they are, experts have claimed. It is rather a fluke of nature that alcohol closes down the section of the mind that stops us acting on impulse long before it deadens the ‘reptilian’ part responsible for our sexual urges, says Dr Amanda Ellison. The area of the brain that makes us want to mate is the oldest part - and sited so far down it keeps functioning however much we drink - until we are ready to pass out. 'Beer goggles' do not make us think people are more attractive than they are, brain expert Dr Amanda Ellison claims . Dr Ellison says it is a myth that beer goggles fool us into thinking someone is more attractive than they really are. But even relatively small amounts of alcohol will stop the various parts of the brain working properly together. Dr Ellison, senior lecturer in the Department of Psychology at Durham University, has been pulling together a range of research into how alcohol affects the brain, as the nation’s drink problem increases. She says that while evolution had made women more choosy about who they go to bed with, both sexes are looking for a soul mate - and personality is just as important as looks in selecting a partner. However, all this goes out of the window when we drink because of the sequence in which alcohol acts on areas of the brain. She said: ‘Alcohol switches off the rational and decision making areas of the brain while leaving the areas to do with sexual desire relatively intact, and so this explains beer goggles. ‘We still see others basically as they are. There is no imagined physical transformation - just more desire.’ However, a number of previous studies have suggested we start seeing things when the opposite sex and alcohol are involved. Alcohol affects the part of the mind responsible for impulse before the part responsible for sexual urges, claims scientist . A Bristol University experiment claimed people do appear more attractive to both sexes after they have had a drink. American research maintained that men rated pictures of women more highly after looking at alcohol-linked words and London’s Roehampton University claimed men and women had problems rating faces for attractiveness after drinking. However, Dr Ellison’s book, Getting Your Head Around the Brain, argues men and women do not see each other any differently no matter how much they drink. But after as little as half a pint of beer alcohol starts bonding with the receptors of the upper lobes which control decision-making. The more primitive section of the brain in the cortex below which governs our sex drive is carrying on unaffected. Normally, this part of the brain is kept in check by the upper lobes. So, while sober we are constantly weighing up questions of looks versus personality in our search for the right soul mate. When sober you would look at a member of the opposite sex and decide you were not attracted to them. But that decision making process was impaired by alcohol. However, a bag of crisps or peanuts could stop things getting out of hand, Dr Ellison says. ‘You would have some food in your stomach and the salt would aid rehydration by retaining water and stopping you pee-ing it all away,’ she said. The first area of the brain to be affected by alcohol is cerebellum - the motor control area. Next to go is the frontal lobes which control our rational decision-making. Sexual desire is in the reptilian section of the mind under the cortex. Even though women use both sides of the brain to make sexual decisions this was no defence against alcohol. 'Beer goggles' affect both sides of the brain, particularly the frontal lobes which we use to make decisions and recognise the consequences of our actions. The other thing which informs sexual desire is pheromones which we can smell and cause us to be attracted subconsciously to people with different immune systems so off-spring will have elements of both and be stronger. Once the brain started rehydrating and the alcohol loosened its grip on the receptors of the brain it had bound to and rational thinking returned. Dr Ellison said: ‘Memory may not come back but rationality does. As the brain rehydrates and the toxins are flushed away the alcohol ceases to bind to the brain receptors and the frontal lobes kick back in.’ She believes that the booze culture needed more research before a whole new generation was born to couples who could not stand each other. While love-hate relationships have now been largely explained away by pheromones - which trigger the basic instinct to mate - drink-fuelled romance was being driven by social change. Traditionally, it was the man who - having had one too many - made the advances while the more sober woman decided whether to accept or reject. But with more and more men and women being flung together by booze, Dr Ellison argues it is vital to understand how the rules of attraction are bent by over indulgence: ‘We have got to try and work out what the social effect alcohol is having now in an era when contraception is widely available and we have a culture where drinking is the norm,’ she said. ‘New studies are going to be very interesting in how it affects the rules of attraction. ‘Pheromones may be turned off by beer goggles. It’s entirely possible they are - but we don’t know.’
goggles’ do not make us think people are more expert Dr Amanda Ellison claims . Dr Ellison says affects the part of the mind responsible for impulse before the part responsible for sexual