How Does Alcohol Affect Brain Development?

What effect does alcohol have on the developing brain? – The earlier a person starts drinking alcohol at harmful levels the greater the risk of changing the development of the brain. This can lead to problems with memory and learning and increases the risk of having alcohol-related problems later in life.3 Alcohol is a depressant that affects the brain by causing the brain to slow down.

• slurred speech
• confusion
• poor vision
• poor muscle control and judgement
• slower reactions
• lack of coordination
• sleep disruption.1

While research tells us alcohol can damage the developing brain it is not clear how much alcohol it takes to do this. For these reasons, it is recommended that for under 18s no alcohol is the safest choice and that they delay the initiation of drinking for as long as possible.4 Alcohol can affect your child’s brain which continues to develop until their early twenties.

Alcohol can negatively impact on your child’s problem solving skills and performance at school as well as potentially affecting their body, mood and mental health.2 There are several parts of the brain affected by alcohol during the teenage years. However, there are 2 areas that are most affected because of the momentous changes they are undergoing at this time.

These are:

• The hippocampus which is responsible for memory and learning. Studies of adolescents show that heavy and extended alcohol use is associated with a 10 per cent reduction in the size of the hippocampus. It also shows that the function of the hippocampus is uniquely sensitive to alcohol at this time and that alcohol may be poisonous to the nerve cells of the hippocampus causing them to be damaged or destroyed.1
• The prefrontal lobe which is important for planning, judgement, decision making, impulse control and language is the area of the brain that changes the most during the teenage years. Research with heavy drinking adolescents shows that these young people have smaller prefrontal lobes than young people of the same age who do not drink.1

The body of research about the effects of alcohol on the developing brain is still growing.

How does alcohol affect the brain under 21?

ADOLESCENTS ARE MORE SENSITIVE THAN ADULTS TO ALCOHOL’S MEMORY-IMPAIRING EFFECTS. Among its many effects on the brain and brain function—such as impairing balance, motor coordination, and decisionmaking —alcohol interferes with the drinker’s ability to form memories (i.e., it is an amnestic agent).

What are 3 effects of alcohol on brain function?

ALCOHOL’S DAMAGING EFFECTS ON THE BRAIN Difficulty walking, blurred vision, slurred speech, slowed reaction times, impaired memory: Clearly, alcohol affects the brain. Some of these impairments are detectable after only one or two drinks and quickly resolve when drinking stops.

1. On the other hand, a person who drinks heavily over a long period of time may have brain deficits that persist well after he or she achieves sobriety.
2. Exactly how alcohol affects the brain and the likelihood of reversing the impact of heavy drinking on the brain remain hot topics in alcohol research today.

We do know that heavy drinking may have extensive and far–reaching effects on the brain, ranging from simple “slips” in memory to permanent and debilitating conditions that require lifetime custodial care. And even moderate drinking leads to short–term impairment, as shown by extensive research on the impact of drinking on driving.

how much and how often a person drinks; the age at which he or she first began drinking, and how long he or she has been drinking; the person’s age, level of education, gender, genetic background, and family history of alcoholism; whether he or she is at risk as a result of prenatal alcohol exposure; and his or her general health status.

This Alcohol Alert reviews some common disorders associated with alcohol–related brain damage and the people at greatest risk for impairment. It looks at traditional as well as emerging therapies for the treatment and prevention of alcohol–related disorders and includes a brief look at the high–tech tools that are helping scientists to better understand the effects of alcohol on the brain.

Does alcohol damage the brain?

Increased risk of head injuries – If a person regularly drinks too much alcohol, they also have a higher risk of repeated head injuries. While under the effects of alcohol they may fall and hit their head, or receive blows to the head in fights or as victims of violence.

• Both can cause lasting damage to the brain.
• A person with ARBD may experience all of these types of damage.
• The different types of damage are linked to different types of ARBD.
• For example, Wernicke–Korsakoff syndrome is most closely linked with low levels of thiamine (vitamin B1).
• Usually a person is diagnosed with a specific type of ARBD.

Depending on their symptoms, they may have one of several conditions, including: The two main types of ARBD that can cause symptoms of dementia are alcohol-related ‘dementia’ and Wernicke–Korsakoff syndrome. Neither of these are actual types of dementia, because you cannot get better from dementia, and there is some chance of recovery in both of these conditions.

1. A person who has ARBD won’t only have problems caused by damage to their brain.
2. They will usually also be addicted to alcohol.
3. This means that they have become dependent on it.
4. Addiction can make it much more difficult to treat a person with ARBD.
5. This is because professionals need to treat the person’s alcohol addiction together with their symptoms related to memory and thinking.

About one in 10 people with dementia have some form of ARBD. In people with (who are younger than 65 years old) ARBD affects about one in eight people. It is likely – for a wide range of reasons – that the condition is under-diagnosed. This means that the number of people living with ARBD is probably higher.

People who are diagnosed with ARBD are usually aged between about 40 and 50. This is younger than the age when people usually develop the more common types of dementia, such as Alzheimer’s disease. It is not clear why some people who drink too much alcohol develop ARBD, while others do not. ARBD affects men much more often than women.

However, women who have ARBD tend to get it at a younger age than men, and after fewer years of alcohol misuse. This is because women are at a greater risk of the damaging effects of alcohol. What kind of information would you like to read? Use the button below to choose between help, advice and real stories.

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We will remember your selection for future visits; you can change your choices at any time : Alcohol-related brain damage (ARBD): what is it and who gets it?

Does drinking at 18 affect the brain?

Studies at McLean Hospital and elsewhere have shown that alcohol affects the brains of adolescents in profound and dangerous ways. During the teenage and early adult years, the brain is still developing, making it more vulnerable to alcohol than the adult brain.

Is alcohol killing brain cells a myth?

Does Alcohol Kills Brain Cells? – Brain cells make up the functional tissue of the brain. The two main types of cells in the brain are neurons, or nerve cells, and glial cells, which are also called neuroglia. Brain cells are responsible for sending and receiving electrical and chemical signals.

1. They’re the building blocks of the brain, allowing us to perform involuntary and voluntary actions.
2. They allow us to think, move, speak, learn, breathe, and understand the world around us.
3. Brain damage and brain injury can cause the destruction or degeneration of brain cells, which can affect multiple functions.

The most common causes of brain cell loss and damage include prolonged shortage of oxygen (hypoxia), poisoning, infection, neurological problems, and brain damage. But what about alcohol – does alcohol kill brain cells? No, it doesn’t. Research confirms that this is a myth.

• Instead, alcohol damages the dendrites located in the cerebellum or region of the brain that plays a role in coordination and movement.
• Dendrites are where neurons receive input from other cells.
• A dendrite is also referred to as a tree branch because of its root-like appearance.
• ‘s important to note that the cerebellum contains over half of the total number of neurons in the brain.

Any damage, such as damage caused by excessive drinking, can harm dendrites, impact neural communication, and inhibit motor movement and other functions.

Does alcohol affect IQ?

Conclusions – We found that lower results on IQ tests are associated with higher consumption of alcohol measured in terms of both total alcohol intake and binge drinking in Swedish adolescent men. Keywords: IQ, Alcohol Consumption Intelligence has been shown to be associated with various health-related outcomes in several studies (Andersson et al., 2008 ; Calvin et al., 2011 ; David et al., 1997 ; Gale et al., 2010 ; Hart et al., 2004 ; Hemmingsson et al., 2007 ; Martin et al., 2004 ).

However, previous findings on cognitive ability and alcohol-related problems have not been consistent, possibly due to differences between the outcomes assessed. One suggested explanation for the association between intelligence and health is that cognitive skills enhance possibilities to make healthy lifestyle choices.

Cognitive ability has been found to be associated with several health-related behaviors, such as smoking, food intake, and physical activity (Batty et al., 2007b, c ; Hemmingsson et al., 2008 ). The scientific literature on intelligence and alcohol consumption in adolescence, measured as total intake and type of drinking, is scarce.

A twin study from the United States showed that a high IQ assessed at age 17 was associated with heavier alcohol use as measured by an alcohol use composite, taking into account symptoms of alcohol abuse/dependence, number of intoxications, frequency of use and number of drinks during a year, and maximum number of drinks within 24 hours (Johnson et al., 2009 ).

A study from Switzerland investigated how IQ test results from conscription were associated with frequency of drinking, defined as nondrinking, rare drinking (1 to 5 times/y), occasional drinking (1 to 5 times/month), moderate drinking (1 to 5 times/wk), and daily drinking.

It showed that high performance on IQ tests had a positive association with moderate drinking (Muller et al., 2013 ). In the 1970 British Cohort Study, it was found that higher childhood mental ability was associated with higher alcohol intake as an adult (Batty et al., 2008 ). Another study from the United States, of a population 14 to 21 years of age, showed, on a measure of verbal intelligence, that lower verbal intelligence was associated with lower alcohol consumption, but also with a higher risk of alcohol-related problems among those who consumed alcohol (Windle and Blane, 1989 ).

Intelligence is commonly defined as “a very general mental capability that, among other things, involves the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly, and learn from experience” (Gottfredson, 1997 ).

There are several tests of intelligence available, and the main difference between them lies in the recognition, or not, of a general factor, “g,” as introduced by Spearman. The “g” factor theory addresses the positive correlations found between tests designed to capture different suggested areas of intelligence, for example, verbal, logical, and spatial.

Instead of 1 “g” factor, Horn and Cattell suggested 5 “general” factors, of which those concerned with “fluid” and “crystallized” abilities are the most influential. The first is a matter of basic ability to reason ( g f ), while the latter ( g c ) concerns how well the individual has invested his/her fluid ability in society to gain knowledge of value.

1. These 2 theories are often contrasted with that of Thurstone, in whose model primary mental abilities are expected to explain test results more independently (Carlstedt, 2000 ; Gustafsson, 1984 ; Nisbett et al., 2012 ).
2. However, as concluded by Deary ( 2012 ), there are few empirical grounds for considering intelligence without the “g”-factor.

Studies on alcohol consumption should consider both total alcohol intake and pattern of drinking (Rehm et al., 2003 ). Although few studies have been performed on patterns of drinking, they have been shown to be of importance for certain diagnoses, for example, ischemic heart disease, fetal alcohol syndrome, and injury (Plunk et al., 2014 ; Rehm et al., 2010 ).

There are different definitions of patterns of drinking in the literature. Normally, binge drinking is contrasted with a moderate or steady type of drinking, but there is a lack of distinct and broadly acknowledged measures of the different patterns of consumption (Field et al., 2008 ). It is, however, known, that binge drinking is more common among young adults and adolescents (Kuntsche et al., 2004 ).

Further, a systematic review by McCambridge and colleagues ( 2011 ) showed that high alcohol consumption in late adolescence is carried into adulthood and as too are the problems associated with alcohol. The aim of this study was to examine the association between intelligence and total alcohol intake during a specific time period and pattern of drinking.

1. Is there an association between intelligence and total alcohol intake in adolescence?
2. Is there an association between intelligence and pattern of drinking in adolescence?
3. Are there differences in the associations between different the cognitive factors measured in an IQ test and total alcohol intake and pattern of drinking in adolescence?
4. Does any association between IQ test results and total alcohol intake in adolescence persist into adulthood?

Is One beer a day bad for your brain?

CNN — Just one pint of beer or average glass of wine a day may begin to shrink the overall volume of the brain, a new study has found, and the damage worsens as the number of daily drinks rises. On average, people at age 50 who drank a pint of beer or 6-ounce glass of wine (two alcohol units) a day in the last month had brains that appeared two years older than those who only drank a half of a beer (one unit), according to the study, which published Friday in the journal Nature,

1. The brains of people that age who said they drank three alcohol units a day had reductions in both white and gray matter that looked as if they had added 3.5 years to the ages of their brains.
2. One alcohol unit is 10 milliliters or 8 grams of pure alcohol.
3. That means 25 milliliters or a single shot of liquor is one unit; a 16-ounce can of beer or cider is two units; and a standard 6-ounce glass of wine (175 milliliters) is two units.

The brains of nondrinkers who began consuming an average of one alcohol unit a day showed the equivalent of a half a year of aging, according to the study. In comparison, drinking four alcohol units a day aged a person’s brain by more than 10 years. “It’s not linear.

It gets worse the more you drink,” first author Remi Daviet, an assistant professor of marketing in the Wisconsin School of Business at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said in a statement. “A problem in this study is that they only have information on people’s drinking habits for the one year prior to the (brain) imaging,” said alcohol researcher Emmanuela Gakidou, a professor of health metrics sciences at the University of Washington.

“I think this is a major limitation of the study as it’s likely that the cumulative consumption of alcohol throughout one’s lifetime is associated with the brain, not just the level of consumption right before the images were taken,” she added. “The relationship between alcohol and health is complex, and our understanding of that relationship is evolving over time.

Based on this study, I would not really draw any definitive conclusions, but I would say that the authors have identified areas for further research.” Doctors used to believe that moderate amounts of alcohol could provide a health benefit, especially to the heart and the brain, but recent research has called that assumption into question.

A number of studies have found no amount of drinking to be healthy, and the World Heart Federation recently published a policy brief saying there is “no level of alcohol consumption that is safe for health.” “Small amounts of alcohol are associated with health benefits for some conditions, such as ischemic heart disease and diabetes, but harmful for others, such as road traffic accidents and breast cancer,” Gakidou said, adding there are others, such as a stroke, where the outcome isn’t clear.

1. There isn’t really a simple answer for a given individual,” she said.
2. Based on what we do know at this time, whether small amounts of alcohol are beneficial or harmful for an individual depends on that person’s health status and their risk profile.
3. Are they more prone to heart disease or cancer?” The report analyzed data from more than 36,000 people who took part in the UK Biobank study, which houses in-depth genetic and health information on more than 500,000 middle-aged adults living in the United Kingdom.

People in the study had provided information on the number of drinks they had each week in the previous year and had undergone an MRI brain scan. Researchers compared their scans with images of typical aging brains and then controlled for such variables as age, sex, smoking status, socioeconomic status, genetic ancestry and overall head size.

The fact that we have such a large sample size allows us to find subtle patterns, even between drinking the equivalent of half a beer and one beer a day,” coauthor Gideon Nave, an assistant professor of marketing at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, said in a statement. “Having this dataset is like having a microscope or a telescope with a more powerful lens,” Nave said.

“You get a better resolution and start seeing patterns and associations you couldn’t before.” He told CNN that is why this study was able to find a more distinct pattern of association between drinking and brain volume than past studies. However, he added, the results are just that – an association – as the study could not prove cause and effect.

1. Our study is by far the largest investigation of the topic,” Nave said.
2. It uses a general population sample, and it controls for more confounds than before.
3. As such, it provides overwhelmingly more evidence than any previous investigations and gets us closer to settling the debate.” However, the study left a number of questions unanswered, such as a person’s cognitive engagement, Gakidou said.

“I believe that there is sufficient evidence that suggests that brain function decays faster among those that are not engaged in intellectually stimulating activities, either through work or hobbies,” she said. “My main criticism is that the authors are overinterpreting the findings of their study and drawing conclusions that are not necessarily supported by what is presented in the paper.

Is alcohol bad for your brain long term?

Alcohol and the Brain – Though alcohol is considered socially acceptable to consume in most parts of the world, heavy alcohol use can prove detrimental to a person’s physical and mental wellbeing and the overall physiological health of their brain. Heavy or long-term alcohol use can result in learning and memory issues and can also eventually lead to the development or exacerbation of mental health conditions.3 The brain is a delicate and intricate organ that must maintain a careful balance of chemicals, called neurotransmitters, for a person to function properly. A person who is dependent on alcohol is at risk of developing an AUD, a brain disease characterized by a struggle to limit drinking, despite significant negative influences on someone’s personal health, relationships, and overall social functioning.6 While some of alcohol’s physical and mental effects fade once someone stops drinking, others may persist for longer periods of time and have long-term health consequences.2 Get in contact with us by filling in our online insurance verification form below.

• Let us remove the confusion and difficulty of verifying your insurance coverage for treatment.
• We have years of experience in the addiction space and contracts with many of the big name insurance providers.
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All information is confidential, and there is no obligation to enter treatment.

What are the benefits of alcohol on the brain?

Alcohol may boost your mood. – A 2017 study published in Drug and Alcohol Dependence examined the effects of alcohol on mood. The research concluded that drinking alcohol was associated with a greater positive mood and reduced negative mood while drinking.

Is it OK for a 20 year old to drink?

National Minimum Drinking Age Act – The passage of the National Minimum Drinking Age Act enacted a federal minimum drinking age that all states are required to adhere to in order to receive certain types of federal funding. There are many local and state-based exceptions to the minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) of 21, however.

Is it bad for an 18 year old to get drunk?

Alcohol and its health risks for young people -, As the brain keeps developing into the mid-twenties, drinking alcohol as a teenager can increase the risk of harm to the developing brain. It can also lead to trouble with alcohol later in life. Drinking a lot of alcohol in one session with the aim of getting drunk is known as binge drinking.

hangovers headaches nausea and vomiting shakiness.

People will often experience a hangover after a binge drinking session. While hangovers are unpleasant, they do pass. It’s important to remember that binge drinking can mean that the young person might make decisions, they might not make usually. Having a safety plan in place can help reduce the risk of engaging in risky behaviours like swimming or drink driving.

How many teens drink alcohol?

Underage Drinking in the United States (ages 12 to 20) Prevalence of Lifetime Drinking According to the 2021 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), 13.4 million people ages 12 to 20 (34.4% in this age group) reported that they have had at least one drink in their lives.1,2 This includes:

• 6.4 million males ages 12 to 20(31.9% in this age group) 1,2
• 7.0 million females ages 12 to 20 (37.0% in this age group) 1,2
• 7.4 million White people ages 12 to 20 (38.0% in this age group) 1,2
• 1.3 million Black or African American people ages 12 to 20 (25.0% in this age group) 1,2
• 412,000 Asian people ages 12 to 20 (18.7% in this age group) 1,2
• 436,000 people of two or more races ages 12 to 20 (32.5% in this age group) 1,2
• 3.6 million Hispanic or Latino people ages 12 to 20 (35.6% in this age group) 1,2
• Estimates for American Indian or Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander people ages 12 to 20 were not presented because they were based on a relatively small number of respondents or had a large margin of error.1,2

Prevalence of Past-Year Drinking According to the 2021 NSDUH, 11.1 million people ages 12 to 20 (28.5% in this age group) reported that they drank in the past year.1,2 This includes:

• 5.3 million males ages 12 to 20 (26.4% in this age group) 1,2
• 5.8 million females ages 12 to 20 (30.7% in this age group) 1,2
• 6.3 million White people ages 12 to 20 (32.0% in this age group) 1,2
• 1.1 million Black or African American people ages 12 to 20 (19.6% in this age group) 1,2
• 318,000 Asian people ages 12 to 20 (14.4% in this age group) 1,2
• 349,000 people of two or more races ages 12 to 20 (26.1% in this age group) 1,2
• 3.0 million Hispanic or Latino people ages 12 to 20 (29.4% in this age group) 1,2
• Estimates for American Indian or Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander people ages 12 to 20 were not presented because they were based on a relatively small number of respondents or had a large margin of error.1,2

Prevalence of Past-Month Drinking According to the 2021 NSDUH, 5.9 million people ages 12 to 20 (15.1% in this age group) reported that they drank in the past month.1,2 This includes:

• 2.8 million males ages 12 to 20 (14.0% in this age group) 1,2
• 3.1 million females ages 12 to 20 (16.3% in this age group) 1,2
• 3.6 million White people ages 12 to 20 (18.1% in this age group) 1,2
• 508,000 Black or African American people ages 12 to 20 (9.4% in this age group) 1,2
• 141,000 Asian people ages 12 to 20 (6.4% in this age group) 1,2
• 176,000 people of two or more races ages 12 to 20 (13.2% in this age group) 1,2
• 1.5 million Hispanic or Latino people ages 12 to 20 (14.5% in this age group) 1,2
• Estimates for American Indian or Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander people ages 12 to 20 were not presented because they were based on a relatively small number of respondents or had a large margin of error.1,2

Prevalence of Past-Month Binge Drinking According to the 2021 NSDUH, 3.2 million people ages 12 to 20 (8.3% in this age group) reported binge drinking in the past month ( for definition of binge drinking).1,2 This includes:

• 1.5 million males ages 12 to 20 (7.4% in this age group) 1,2
• 1.8 million females ages 12 to 20 (9.3% in this age group) 1,2
• 2.0 million White people ages 12 to 20 (10.1% in this age group) 1,2
• 297,000 Black or African American people ages 12 to 20 (5.5% in this age group) 1,2
• 56,000 Asian people ages 12 to 20 (2.5% in this age group) 1,2
• 100,000 people of two or more races ages 12 to 20 (7.5% in this age group) 1,2
• 743,000 Hispanic or Latino people ages 12 to 20 (7.3% in this age group) 1,2
• Estimates for American Indian or Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander people ages 12 to 20 were not presented because they were based on a relatively small number of respondents or had a large margin of error.1,2

Prevalence of Past-Month Heavy Alcohol Use According to the 2021 NSDUH, 613,000 people ages 12 to 20 (1.6% in this age group) reported heavy alcohol use in the past month ( for definition of heavy alcohol use).1,2 This includes:

• 334,000 males ages 12 to 20 (1.7% in this age group) 1,2
• 279,000 females ages 12 to 20 (1.5% in this age group) 1,2
• 412,000 White people ages 12 to 20 (2.1% in this age group) 1,2
• 64,000 Black or African American people ages 12 to 20 (1.2% in this age group) 1,2
• 2,000 American Indian or Alaska Native people ages 12 to 20 (0.9% in this age group) 1,2
• 3,000 Asian people ages 12 to 20 (0.2% in this age group) 1,2
• 26,000 people of two or more races ages 12 to 20 (1.9% in this age group) 1,2
• 105,000 Hispanic or Latino people ages 12 to 20 (1.0% in this age group) 1,2
• Estimates for Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander people ages 12 to 20 were not presented because they were based on a relatively small number of respondents or had a large margin of error.1,2

Prevalence of High-Intensity Drinking According to the 2022 Monitoring the Future survey, 2.4% of students in 12th grade reported high-intensity drinking.3 Trend in Underage Alcohol Use NSDUH findings indicate a decline in underage drinking. From 2002 to 2021, the prevalence of alcohol use in the past 30 days decreased by 58.3% among adolescents ages 16 to 17, 69.1% among adolescents ages 14 to 15, and 52.8% among adolescents ages 12 to 13.4 Consequences of Underage Alcohol Use

• Research indicates that alcohol use during the teenage years can interfere with normal adolescent brain development and increase the risk of developing alcohol use disorder. In addition, underage drinking contributes to a range of acute consequences, such as injuries, sexual assaults, alcohol overdoses, and deaths—including those from motor vehicle crashes.5
• Alcohol is a factor in the deaths of thousands of people younger than age 21 in the United States each year. This includes:
  • 1,573 from motor vehicle crashes 6
  • 1,121 from homicides 7
  • 190 from alcohol overdose, falls, burns, and drowning 7
  • 718 from suicides 7

According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), caution should be used when comparing estimates from the 2020 and 2021 NSDUH to those from prior years due to methodological changes. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, data for NSDUH were collected during in-home visits, using computer-assisted techniques.

• The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated a delay in data collection during 2020 and the introduction of web-based data collection, with very limited in-person data collection.
• Because these changes in data collection coincided with the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and any related behavioral or mental health changes, we cannot fully separate the effects of methodological changes from true changes in the outcomes.

Please see the for more information. According to CDC, due to scientific updates to Alcohol-Related Disease Impact (ARDI), estimates of alcohol-attributable deaths or years of potential life lost generated in the current version of ARDI should not be compared with estimates that were generated using the ARDI default reports or analyses in the ARDI Custom Data Portal prior to April 19, 2022.

1. SAMHSA, Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality.2021 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Table 2.44A—Alcohol use in lifetime, past year, and past month and binge alcohol and heavy alcohol use in past month: among people aged 12 to 20; by demographic characteristics, numbers in thousands, 2021., Available from:
2. SAMHSA, Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality.2021 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Table 2.44B—Alcohol use in lifetime, past year, and past month and binge alcohol and heavy alcohol use in past month: among people aged 12 to 20; by demographic characteristics, percentages, 2021., Available from:
3. Johnston LD, Miech RA, O’Malley PM, Bachman JG, Schulenberg JE, Patrick ME. (2022). Monitoring the Future National Survey Results on Drug Use 1975–2022. Table 4: Trends in 30-day prevalence of daily use of various drugs and binge drinking in grades 8, 10, and 12, 2022.
4. Population prevalence estimates (%) are weighted by the person-level analysis weight and derived from the Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality (CBHSQ).2002 National Survey on Drug Use and Health Public Use File Codebook. Rockville, MD: SAMHSA, 2018; and CBHSQ.2021 National Survey on Drug Use and Health Public Use File Codebook. Rockville, MD: SAMHSA, 2022. Public use files.,
5. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). Underage drinking, Bethesda (MD): NIAAA; 2013, Available from:,
6. Fatality and Injury Reporting System Tool, Washington: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Available from:,
7. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Alcohol and Public Health: Alcohol-Related Disease Impact., Annual average for United States 2015–2019 alcohol-attributable deaths due to excessive alcohol use, all ages. Available from:

: Underage Drinking in the United States (ages 12 to 20)

What are the dangers of drinking before 21?

Disruption of normal growth or sexual development. Physical and sexual violence. Increased risk of suicide and homicide. Alcohol-related motor vehicle crashes and other unintentional injuries, such as burns, falls, or drowning.

How binge drinking has a powerful impact on the adolescent brain?

UB preclinical study also demonstrates that low-to-moderate levels of drinking negatively affect the adolescent brain – BUFFALO, N.Y. – Binge drinking is the most common, costly and deadly pattern of excessive alcohol use in the U.S., according to the U.S.

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
• Defined as consuming five or more drinks in a 2-hour period for men or four or more drinks for women, binge drinking is associated with numerous health problems in adults, including increased violence, accidental injuries and death, impaired memory and increased risk for cancers, heart disease and other chronic conditions.

How binge drinking affects adolescents, especially the adolescent brain, which is still developing, has not been well-understood. Now a University at Buffalo research team, funded by UB’s Clinical and Research Institute on Addictions, has published a preclinical study demonstrating the powerful effect that binge drinking has on the brains of adolescent rats.

It also found that even low and moderate amounts of alcohol can significantly impact brain function. The paper was published May 14 in the journal Metabolic Brain Disease, Mapping alcohol’s effects in the brain Prior research has suggested that alcohol exposure during adolescence can lead to the development of various health risks, such as addiction, depression and brain trauma, in adulthood.

“To this end, we wanted to understand how adolescent binge drinking changes brain function and brain connectivity, the ability of different regions in the brain to interact,” said Panayotis K. Thanos, PhD, senior author and senior research scientist in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at UB.

• To do this, we examined glucose utilization,” he explained.
• By mapping the utilization of glucose throughout the brain, we can get an idea of how binge drinking changes brain functioning and where in the brain these changes take place.
• We can then use these data to learn more about future alcohol-induced neurological or psychiatric dysfunction in adulthood.” The researchers focused on glucose metabolism in the brain because it is the brain’s major source of energy.

“While the brain only makes up approximately 2% of an individual’s body weight, it consumes about 20% of the glucose in the body,” said Thanos. “The metabolism of glucose in the brain is critical in carrying out normal physiological processes. By understanding how the brain uses glucose, we can get a sense of how the brain is functioning.” To determine how acute ethanol binge drinking affected glucose metabolism in the adolescent brain, the researchers conducted positron emission tomography (PET) scans on rats that were provided with an alcohol/water drinking solution.

1. The study found that all levels of alcohol consumption—low, moderate and high—decreased blood glucose metabolism in the primary somatosensory cortex and visual cortex, which are key to processing sensory and visual information, as well as executing motor functions.
2. Vast functional implications’ “Our (PET) brain-imaging data showed that adolescent binge drinking has vast functional implications in the brain,” said Thanos.

“Alcohol binge consumption decreased brain function in areas responsible for sensory, motor, memory and cognitive processes. This lines up with the known behavioral consequences of alcohol consumption: impaired vision, diminished motor skills and coordination, confusion and others.” He said the data also provide a circuit map of the brain’s functional response to binge drinking that will be important targets for the future study of chronic effects of binge drinking.

1. The UB study is the first animal model of adolescent binge drinking that features simultaneous imaging of the brain in the animal while awake.
2. That’s important because, for obvious reasons, we cannot feasibly study the acute brain effects of underage drinking in the human population,” said Thanos.
3. Also of interest was what the study revealed about how low and moderate amounts of alcohol consumption affected the adolescent brain.

“The interesting finding was the similarities between the low and moderate doses of alcohol consumed,” said Thanos. “Although the low dose of alcohol consumed does not meet the criteria for binge drinking in humans, it still promoted a very similar profile in the brain compared to the alcohol dose that does meet binge drinking criteria.” Thanos concluded: “This adolescent rat model allows us to capture the effects of binge drinking and view its deleterious effects on how the brain functions,” he said.