So, you want to kill a few brain cells at the bar tonight? Before you answer, think about this: drinking lots of alcohol over long periods of time shrinks your brain! It sounds like a bad science fiction movie, but this bit of information comes from studying 1,800 people who were classified as non-drinkers, former drinkers, low, moderate and high drinkers.

Women and men react differently to booze, so it should come as no surprise to find out that our brains shrink differently too. For every jump in classification, there was a 0.29 percent shrinkage in women and 0.2 percent in men. How does this happen? Well, compare those brain-shrinking percentages to the natural reduction in brain size we all exhibit as we age, which is 0.19 percent per year.

It turns out that the more we drink alcohol, the more we accelerate this natural shrinking of the brain. But it's worth noting these shrinking trends aren't directly comparable to brain performance... yet.