What I never realized until I read the book "Under The Influence' and other books was that it's not that they black out and forget what happened- Its that the memories of events are never stored to begin with, they aren't even there to recall. Nothing is imprinted and this is the brain malfunction that happens. At it's worst they will fill in the blanks (confabulation- spl?) with whatever they can think of and sometimes be accused of lying but in reality it's the only way they can come up with details of their life that are mysteriously missing. It's frightening how much damage alcohol can cause in the cognitive abilities of the brain.