Excessive alcohol consumption leads to a depression of alertness and arousal, resulting in slurred speech, impaired movement, and eventual passing out.

“The forebrain is now shutting down quite a lot, a lot of the motor cortical areas that control coordinated movement and deliberate movement start to shut down, so people start to slur their speech, people start to shuffle their feet, people forget their posture, people start to lean on things, people start passing out on couches. There's a great depression, not depression of the psychiatric depression sort, but a depression of alertness and arousal, and eventually people will pass out.”