Don't Drain Your Brain: How Alcohol Damages the Brain

Distributed by: Human Relations Media
Year: 2003
Length: 15 minutes


This video approaches the way the brain works and the interruption to normal brain activity when alcohol is introduced into the system. The video features very young hosts, lots of sound effects and animation, and a theme park ride-like musical score through the course of the video.

Opens with a close up of a real human brain, so huge gross-out factor. The youth hosts are barely in their teens. The video employs a lot of flashing graphics flying in from all sides. They interview several health professionals to discuss brain activity and in the middle there is a cartoon to demonstrate how the brain works. The animation is very young and sort of crudely drawn.

The youth hosts use a lot of "teen speak" terms--only they come off sounding like they were written by an adult (as I am sure they were). An example: The female host is talking to a professor from Duke university and asks him "Why do you think the brain is cool?" I did enjoy a demonstration featuring sober and intoxicated rats in a water maze.

The dialog and animation is very young--I wouldn't show this video to an audience older than 5th or maybe 6th grade, and follow it up with a frank discussion. The information is good, just the format is very MTV circa 1984. I am not a fan.