One brain has to last a lifetime.
But a kid who drinks too much alcohol too soon in his life may cause damage to his brain that he may not be able to recover from later on, according to experts.
"Recent studies show that alcohol consumption has the potential to trigger long-term biological changes that may have detrimental effects on the developing brain, including neurocognitive impairment," acting Surgeon General Kenneth P. Moritsugu wrote in "Call to Action to Prevent and Reduce Underage Drinking," a report released in March.
Other consequences of drinking before the legal age of 21 — such as youth getting into fights, unwanted sexual encounters and automobile accidents — have long been common knowledge.
New research, however, points to another consequence — one to the brain, said David Rosenbloom, professor of public health at Boston University's School of Public Health and director of Join Together, an organization that supports drug and alcohol treatment and prevention programs in communities.
"Alcohol affects many portions of the brain," he said in an interview. "The portion of the brain which is related to exercising judgment and caution is the last part of the brain to develop and changes rapidly during adolescence. There is some evidence that alcohol affects that part of the brain negatively."
Although some view underage drinking as a right of passage that users can recover from, the opposite is true, according to the American Medical Association. Damage from alcohol can be long-term and irreversible, the AMA says.
During adolescence, the brain goes through changes, and alcohol use during that time can damage long- and short-term growth processes, according to the AMA.
An AMA report titled "Harmful Consequences of Alcohol Use on the Brains of Children, Adolescents and College Students" notes that the area of the brain that handles memory and learning, called the hippocampus, is about 10 percent smaller in youths between the ages of 14 and 21 who drink than in youths that age who do not drink.
The report also states that those drinkers scored lower on vocabulary, visual-spatial and memory tests and were more likely to perform poorly in school, fall behind and experience social problems, depression, suicidal thoughts and violence.
The findings indicate that adults would have to drink twice as much alcohol to suffer the same damage as adolescents and that occasional heavy drinking injures young brains.
"Our brains go through important transformations during adolescence," Sandra Brown, chief of psychology services at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in San Diego, said in the report summary.
Brown's research was included in the study.
"This study shows that alcohol use during the adolescent years is associated with damage to memory and learning capabilities as well as to the decision-making and reasoning areas in the brain," she said in the report summary.
Lauren O. Kidd: (732) 557-5737 or email@example.com