Although it’s been nearly four years since the death of Amy Winehouse, the recent release of Amy, a documentary about the singer’s life, has thrust her back into the spotlight. In a recent interview, Amy director Asif Kapadia added his own take on Amy’s death by disclosing his suspicion that brain damage and mental illness caused by years of substance abuse may have contributed to her untimely passing.

On July 23, 2011, Amy Winehouse was found unresponsive in her Camden, London apartment. The coroner’s report determined accidental alcohol intoxication to be the cause of death after blood work put Winehouse’s blood alcohol level five times above the legal driving limit. However, according to Kapadia’s recent revelations, there may be more to Winehouse’s death than previously reported.

"We can say she had a mental illness and brain damage that came from all the overdoses and seizures she had over the years. They definitely affected her brain. She wasn't thinking straight," Kapadia told The Sun. "There was enough in her that she was making choices and people around her were making choices that, even if she hadn't become a huge star, there's still the potential she would have chosen that path."

Amy’s hit’s “Rehab” and “You Know I’m No Good” highlight her struggle with alcohol and substance abuse, and in the past she had been vocal with her lifelong issues. Although it may now be too late to confirm Kapadia’s suspicion, research suggests that he may be onto something.

According to Dr. Douglas Fields, neurobiologist and author of The Other Brain, there is “no doubt” that alcohol abuse causes brain damage. MRI scans on study subjects have revealed that long-term alcohol abuse changes the physical structure of the brain and in some cases leads to loss of brain tissue in widespread regions throughout the brain, The Huffington Post reported.