Does alcohol kill brain cells?

Ethanol is quickly absorbed into the bloodstream and reaches the brain. As a small molecule, it is able to cross the blood-brain barrier. The molecular targets of alcohols actions remain essentially unidentified, although many targets have been suggested, including ion channels and intracellular signaling molecules Alcohol works on the GABA system at the synaptic level, and it has a rapid onset of action. Essentially, it causes the GABA receptor, which is an ion channel, to remain open longer than it does without the addition of ethanol into the synaptic cleft (the space between two neurons, or brain cells). This causes more negatively charged particles, called ions, to enter brain cells than they would under normal conditions. The overall effect is to slow the functional processes of the brain cell. GABA is commonly known as the brain's "brake" mechanism.