Derfor kan du ikke huske julefrokosten Why you can't remember the Christmas party

Efter en vild aften med mange øl -

- kan det virke som et mysterium, hvordan du kom hjem. - it can seem like a mystery how you got home.

Var det taxa? Tog? Cykel? Gik du alene? Was it a taxi? Train? Bicycle? Did you walk alone?

Hukommelsen er som et sort hul. Du har haft et blackout. Your memory is like a black hole. You've had a blackout.

I en årrække var tendensen, at unge drak mindre og mindre. For a number of years, the trend was for young people to drink less and less.

Men nu er antallet af 15-årige, der har prøvet at drikke alkohol, steget. But now the number of 15-year-olds who have tried drinking alcohol has increased.

Måske kender du følelsen af, at aftenen er slettet af hukommelsen. Perhaps you know the feeling that the evening has been erased from your memory.

Faktisk er "slettet" ikke det rigtige ord. Actually, "deleted" is not the right word.

Problemet er nok, at intet er blevet optaget. The problem is that nothing has been recorded.

Det, der sker, når du drikker, er, at alkoholen bliver optaget i blodet. What happens when you drink is that the alcohol is absorbed into your bloodstream.

Noget ender i hjernen, hvor forbindelsen mellem neurotransmitterne sløves. Some ends up in the brain, where the connection between neurotransmitters is dulled.

Det er det, der gør dig fuld. That's what makes you drunk.

Når du drikker, bedøves de dele af hjernen - When you drink, it numbs the parts of the brain

- der sørger for anstændig opførsel. - that ensures decent behavior.

Du giver den gas på dansegulvet og fyrer op for de dårlige jokes. You're killing it on the dance floor and making bad jokes.

Tilbage til blackouts. Back to blackouts.

Man er ved bevidsthed. Det svarer ikke til at besvime. You are conscious. It's not the same as passing out.

Men man ved ikke præcis, hvad der sker, når du får et blackout. But it's not known exactly what happens when you black out.

En simpel forklaring er, at hjernen ikke lagrer dine oplevelser. A simple explanation is that the brain doesn't store your experiences.

Når du oplever noget, lagres det i korttidshukommelsen i hippocampus. When you experience something, it is stored in short-term memory in the hippocampus.

Oplevelserne overføres til resten af hjernen - The experiences are transferred to the rest of the brain

- som lagrer dem som minder i langtidshukommelsen. - which stores them as memories in long-term memory.

Hvis du drikker meget - If you drink a lot...

- bliver det måske slet ikke lagret i langtidshukommelsen. - it may not be stored in long-term memory at all.

Derfor aner du ikke, hvordan du kom hjem. That's why you have no idea how you got home.

Det kan være turen hjem eller hele aftenen. It could be the drive home or the whole evening.

Aftenen kan ligge som små brudstykker. The evening can be in bits and pieces.

De bliver også kaldt "greyouts" eller "brownouts". They are also called "greyouts" or "brownouts".

De opstår, når der bliver overført nogle oplevelser - They occur when some experiences are transferred

- mens andre ikke når frem på grund af alkoholens effekt. - while others don't make it due to the effects of alcohol.

Det lumske ved blackouts er, at du ofte ikke kan mærke det på personen. The insidious thing about blackouts is that you often can't feel it on the person.

Korttidshukommelsen virker stadig. Langtidshukommelsen husker alt fra før. Short-term memory still works. Long-term memory remembers everything from before.

Kun nye oplevelser går ind ad det ene øre og ud ad det andet. Only new experiences go in one ear and out the other.

Man kan føre en ret normal samtale med en, der er midt i blackoutet. You can have a fairly normal conversation with someone who is in the middle of a blackout.

Og det kan passe, når personen, du talte med i går, ikke kan huske det. And it can be true when the person you spoke to yesterday doesn't remember.

Et godt råd er at lade være med at drikke for meget og for hurtigt. A good tip is not to drink too much and too fast.

Spis først, så det langsommere bliver optaget i blodet. Eat first so that it is absorbed more slowly into the bloodstream.

Og så er nogle bare mere disponeret for blackouts end andre. And some are just more prone to blackouts than others.

Hvis du har mistanke om, at du er uheldigt disponeret - If you suspect you have an unfortunate predisposition

- så lad være med at drikke på tom mave. - so don't drink on an empty stomach.

Og prøv at holde dig fra shotsene. And try to stay away from the shots.