Adolescent Binge Drinking Damage May Last Into Adulthood

A study by the University of Massachusetts has linked adolescent drinking with lasting cognitive impairment in rats. Building on human research associating adolescent heavy drinking with a reduction in myelin in many parts of the brain, and with impaired cognitive ability, this study suggests a direct link between increased alcohol consumption and lasting structural changes in the brain.

Myelin is  a fatty nerve fibre coating which increases the speed of the travel of electrical signals in the brain. A reduction in myelin levels was observed in rats who had been given regular access to sweetened alcohol, compared to a test group who were fed sweetened water. The levels of impairment in cognitive ability grew for those rats who had taken larger amounts of alcohol as adolescents. A lack of myelin was noted several months into adulthood, showing the persistence of alcohol damage to the brain. The area most significantly affected was the pre-frontal cortex, associated with decision-making skills. The study also linked alcohol abuse in adolescence to impaired memory functioning in later life. Rats who had consumed more alcohol displayed a worse ability in memory tests in adulthood.

Although a causal link between binge drinking and long-term reduced cognitive performance is still far from being definitively established, this study adds to the steady build-up of data connecting alcohol abuse and myelin deficit, and points the way for further research in the area.