Beer Goggles Are Real, Research Reveals
INEBRIATION REALLY DOES ALTER FACIAL APPEARANCE
■ Pablo Picasso once said, "Doesn't everyone look at himself in his own particular way? Deformations simply do not exist." The soused would agree.
The reason: Acute alcohol consumption appears to reduce one's ability to detect asymmetry in faces and, thus, decreases one's preference for symmetrical faces vs. asymmetrical faces, says a study in June's Alcohol, an international journal devoted solely to biomedical research on alcohol and alcoholism.
Study participants were shown 20 images of a pair of faces and then 20 images of a single face, one at a time. They were asked to state which face of each of the pairs was attractive and then whether the single face was symmetrical. Those participants who were sober had a greater preference for symmetrical faces than inebriated participants and were better at identifying whether a face was symmetrical or otherwise. Further, male subjects made fewer mistakes than female subjects in identifying asymmetry.
Researchers collected data from 64 self-selecting students at bars near Roehampton University in London. Students were identified as either sober or drunk via a breathalyzer test.
Due to the study's results, the researchers conclude that the decreased ability of the inebriated to perceive asymmetry may be an important mechanism underlying the high ratings of facial attractiveness they give for members of the opposite sex and, therefore, their increased frequency of mate choice during intoxication.
Vision and intoxication
In explaining the effects of intoxication on vision, optometrist Paul Karpecki, who practices in Lexington, KY and is also a first level sommelier, says that alcohol consumption causes central nervous system (CNS) depression, which can slow down accommodation "and other focusing mechanisms."
"Further consumption eventually affects the cerebrum, resulting in enough of an effect on the muscles of the eye that diplopia can even occur," he says. "Other theories suggest that since cell membranes are permeable to alcohol, it can affect any membrane from blood vessels to ocular structures. But I believe the primary effect is on the CNS."
