Editor’s note: Billy Turner’s last name has been changed to protect his identity.
While some students are swapping shots of vodka for shots of espresso this week, the looming face of finals isn’t deterring everybody from visiting the bars.
Billy Turner, a senior studying psychology and business, will keep making his weekend rounds to Jackie O’s Pub & Brewery, The Union and Casa Nueva rather than cramming. And though he will consume as many as 12 drinks per night, Turner said his bar stops have not negatively influenced his grades.
However, some experts believe that pairing brews and books is a flawed combination.
Terry Koons, associate director for the Campus Involvement Center, said alcohol can actually impair a student’s memory of what he learned during class if he engages in high-risk drinking — consuming more than four or five drinks in a single sitting — later that day.
“What tends to happen is they still have memory, but because they took part in high-risk activities in close proximity, then they’re impaired,” Koons said. “And they have to deal with the residual effects of the drinking.”
Koons said a lingering hangover could also quell motivation, making it difficult for students to focus on relearning material from class.
Julie Suhr, a professor in the psychology department, said another factor in supplementing a bar visit for a study session is that most students overestimate what is considered “light drinking.”
“I do know from our work in the clinics that what students categorize as light drinking is not what is actually considered light drinking,” Suhr said.
Light drinking, Koons said, is defined as two drinks consumed in a single sitting.
“I think that any time when (a student is) trying to use their brain to its full potential, you don’t put alcohol in it,” Suhr said
Suhr added that students who remain abstinent improve their cognitive functioning significantly.
“It is true that part of what we do with learning and memory is that we must have time to encode and consolidate the information,” Suhr said, adding that alcohol can interfere with the encoding process.
Additionally, Suhr warned that a lack of sleep could also interfere with the consolidation of information.
Those who pass out from excessive alcohol consumption do not achieve REM sleep as easily as someone without any alcohol in their system, Koons said, adding that the combination of a sleepless night and cognitive impairment can ultimately put students behind when it comes to studying.
“Just think about finals week,” Koons said. “People are going to go out and party right before finals week, so that’s going to impair their ability to do well.”
sg409809@ohiou.edu
