Teenage boys who drank excessively displayed some abnormality compared to their abstaining peers.
Binge or heavy episodic drinking can damage teenagers' spatial working memory (the ability to perceive their environment or their surroundings) at a critical time when their brains are still developing. And, girls may be especially vulnerable to the negative effects of excess alcohol consumption.
Binge drinking is prevalent during adolescence, raising concerns about alcohol's effects on crucial neuro-maturational processes during this developmental period. Even though adolescents might physically appear grown up, their brains are continuing to significantly develop and mature, particularly in frontal brain regions that are associated with higher-level thoughts, like planning and organisation. Heavy alcohol use has been associated with decrements in cognitive functioning in both adult and adolescent populations, particularly on tasks of spatial working memory relating to difficulties with driving, figural reasoning (like geometry class), sports (remembering and enacting complex plays), using a map, or remembering how to get to places.
Working memory is a term that refers to using and working with information that is held in one's mind, such as adding numbers in your head and is critical to logical thinking and reasoning. Spatial working memory is the ability to perceive the space around oneself and then remember and work with this information. Previous studies have shown that spatial working memory is impaired in adults and adolescents who heavily drink alcohol.
Researchers in US recruited 95 participants from public schools as part of ongoing longitudinal studies: 40 binge drinking (27 males, 13 females) and 55 control (31 males, 24 females) adolescents 16 to 19 years of age. They were subjected to neuropsychological testing, substance use interviews, and a spatial working memory task during a brain scan using functional MRI.
It was found that teen girls who were heavy drinkers had less brain activation in several areas of their brains than girls who didn't drink doing the same spatial task. Teenage boys who drank excessively displayed some abnormality compared to their abstaining peers, but the difference between male drinkers and non-drinkers was less than among girls.
The researchers suggested that hormonal or metabolic difference between boys and girls, or the fact that girls' brains develop up to two years earlier than boys, could account for these gender differences. The same amount of alcohol could more negatively affect females since females tend to have slower rates of metabolism, higher body fat ratios, and lower body weight. This is similar to what generally has been found in adult alcoholics: while both men and women are adversely affected, women are often more vulnerable than men to deleterious effects on the brain.
Heavy alcohol use could interrupt normal brain cell growth during adolescence, particularly in these frontal brain regions, which could interfere with teens' ability to perform in school and sports, and could have long-lasting effects, even months after the teen uses. The researchers caution that binge-drinking is a dangerous activity for all youth and such activity could tamper with normal developmental trajectories that will likely set the stage for cognitive and motor abilities for the rest of one's life.
Binge drinking is prevalent during adolescence, raising concerns about alcohol's effects on crucial neuro-maturational processes during this developmental period. Even though adolescents might physically appear grown up, their brains are continuing to significantly develop and mature, particularly in frontal brain regions that are associated with higher-level thoughts, like planning and organisation. Heavy alcohol use has been associated with decrements in cognitive functioning in both adult and adolescent populations, particularly on tasks of spatial working memory relating to difficulties with driving, figural reasoning (like geometry class), sports (remembering and enacting complex plays), using a map, or remembering how to get to places.
Working memory is a term that refers to using and working with information that is held in one's mind, such as adding numbers in your head and is critical to logical thinking and reasoning. Spatial working memory is the ability to perceive the space around oneself and then remember and work with this information. Previous studies have shown that spatial working memory is impaired in adults and adolescents who heavily drink alcohol.
Researchers in US recruited 95 participants from public schools as part of ongoing longitudinal studies: 40 binge drinking (27 males, 13 females) and 55 control (31 males, 24 females) adolescents 16 to 19 years of age. They were subjected to neuropsychological testing, substance use interviews, and a spatial working memory task during a brain scan using functional MRI.
It was found that teen girls who were heavy drinkers had less brain activation in several areas of their brains than girls who didn't drink doing the same spatial task. Teenage boys who drank excessively displayed some abnormality compared to their abstaining peers, but the difference between male drinkers and non-drinkers was less than among girls.
The researchers suggested that hormonal or metabolic difference between boys and girls, or the fact that girls' brains develop up to two years earlier than boys, could account for these gender differences. The same amount of alcohol could more negatively affect females since females tend to have slower rates of metabolism, higher body fat ratios, and lower body weight. This is similar to what generally has been found in adult alcoholics: while both men and women are adversely affected, women are often more vulnerable than men to deleterious effects on the brain.
Heavy alcohol use could interrupt normal brain cell growth during adolescence, particularly in these frontal brain regions, which could interfere with teens' ability to perform in school and sports, and could have long-lasting effects, even months after the teen uses. The researchers caution that binge-drinking is a dangerous activity for all youth and such activity could tamper with normal developmental trajectories that will likely set the stage for cognitive and motor abilities for the rest of one's life.
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