Binge Drinking in Teens can Compromise White Matter in Brain
A study of adolescent binge drinkers has found that even relatively infrequent exposure to large amounts of alcohol during the teen years can compromise the integrity of the brain’s white matter, which is critical for relaying information. The preliminary findings, published in the July issue of the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, indicate that binge drinking may be detrimental to the adolescent brain.
Susan F. Tapert, PhD, director of Substance Abuse/Mental Illness at the VA San Diego Healthcare System and associate professor of psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego, explained that because the brain is still developing during adolescence, there has been concern that it may be more vulnerable to high doses of alcohol. “This study showed that teens with histories of binge drinking episodes have lower coherence of white matter fibers in a variety of brain regions,” she said.
With 55 percent of high-school seniors reported having been drunk and a quarter of them reporting having consumed five or more drinks in a row during the previous two weeks, binge drinking is common among adolescents.
White matter is the part of the brain made up of the axons of neurons—long filaments that extend from the cell bodies and carry the electrical signals that relay messages between neurons. The area appears white because of the axons’ protective myelin covering.
