Adolescence necessarily means the running of "heated' blood through veins and arteries. It also denotes the urge to try out wild experimentations. A venturous stage, adolescence may also involve exploring the dark alleys of life. Wanting to pay visits to the "prohibited" areas and a deep desire to convert "No" to "yes" are what you can expect in adolescence.
And all these desires get manifested in some form of behaviors or habits like alcoholism, drug addiction or substance abuse. And adolescents seem to give a "damn" on the possible side effects including brain damage.
A new study conducted by the University of Cincinnati researchers has claimed that binge drinking may cause brain damage in adolescents and young adults, whose brains are still in the developing phase. Researchers examined the brains of 29 weekend binge drinkers via high resolution brain scans.
The age of the binge drinkers ranged from 18 to 25 years. The consumption of four or more drinks in one occasion in women and five or more in case of men was found to be associated with cortical thinning of the pre-frontal cortex. This portion of the brain performs functions like planning and decision making, aiding in concentrating and handling the inclinations towards irrational behavior.
Researchers revealed their interest to find out if the white matter and the gray matter are equally affected or whether they are affected differently. They are of the opinion that alcohol may be neuro-toxic to the neurons or it may be interfering with the developmental process of the brain.
But how can we help prevent such an "ordinary" and "commonplace" habit in adolescents belonging to cultures which show open acceptance for binge drinking?
