Professor Susan Tapert of the University of California, San Diego, performed brain scans on 28 people ages 16 to 19 years old. Half of Prof. Taper's subjects were binge drinkers who got drunk often. This group had lower levels of white matter fiber coherence in 18 separate areas of their brains. White matter is critical for the relay of information within the brain.
"Because the brain is still developing during adolescence, there has been concern that it may be more vulnerable to high doses of alcohol," Dr. Tapert said.
Government surveys show that about 55 percent of all high school seniors say they have been drunk once in the past year, and about 25 percent report drinking five drinks in a row during the past two weeks.
This study appeared in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research.
Labels: teenage_drinking, alcohol_abuse, brain_damage, binge drinking
Posted By: Aspen/CRC