Sociable souls could get drunk more quickly

Do you often find yourself getting a bit too merry when surrounded by friends at a party? It seems your sociable nature could be to blame.

Spending time with others makes you more sensitive to alcohol, researchers suggest – although bizarrely, their study was carried out on crayfish.

Scientists gave 102 of the crustaceans – which are susceptible to booze in the same concentrations as humans – the amount of alcohol found in a strong beer.

The crayfish became drunk 25 per cent faster when they had previously been socialising with dozens of their own species, compared to those reared in isolation. All began acting strangely, walking in an unusual way and then doing somersaults. The most sozzled crayfish ended up lying on their backs, kicking their legs.

The team, from the University of Maryland in the US, suspected that receptor molecules responding to alcohol are more abundant in socialised crayfish.

It is hoped that once these molecules are identified, scientists can see if the same process also takes place in humans. The way drugs such as cocaine affect our brains is well-understood, but alcohol’s mechanism of action – which targets multiple receptors – is less clear. Just like humans, some crayfish appeared happier when drunk, while others became aggressive.

Study author Jens Herberholz said: ‘Inebriated people could potentially have different responses to alcohol depending on their prior social experience.’