Binge Drinking Damages White Matter in Adolescent Brain

A new MRI study finds that adolescents damage the white matter in their brain — which helps relay information between brain cells — when they binge on alcohol, HealthDay News reported April 21.

Researchers said that the study of 28 teens indicates that binge drinking could impair thinking and memory among teens, perhaps even affecting performance in school. Past studies have revealed white-matter damage in adult alcoholics. 

“It could be that episodes of binge drinking during the teenage years, when their brain is still developing, could have adversely influenced the brain's white matter development,” said lead researcher Susan F. Tapert of the University of California at San Diego and director of Substance Abuse/Mental Illness at the VA San Diego Healthcare System.

Given the current rate of adolescent binge drinking in the U.S., Tapert said that one in four teens could be at risk of white-matter damage due to heavy alcohol use.

The report was published online in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research.