Alcohol’s Effects on Adolescent Brains How Alcohol Causes Damage

Low GABA levels could be one reason why adults and adolescents react to alcohol effects in such different ways. Regardless of age, in terms of neurobiology, alcohol promotes sedation, controlled by GABA in the brain, and blocks excitation, controlled by glutamate in the brain. It is important to understand that adolescence is a notable age period, a time when an individual is growing and maturing at rapid and dramatic rates relative to other ages.

• It’s up to all of us to ensure both teens and parents alike are educated on the effects of alcohol on the teenage brain.
• Alcohol has also been shown to cause neuroinflammation, which is the brain’s attempt to limit the damage caused by alcohol.
• Although human brains are far more developed and elaborate in their frontal regions, some functions are analogous across species, Dr. Crews said, including planning and impulse control.
• If a person drinks enough, particularly if they do so quickly, alcohol can produce a blackout.

But among drinkers, teens are more likely than adults to binge, Siqueira notes. Some 28 to 60 percent of teens who drink report binge drinking, she says. Indeed, 9 out of 10 drinks downed by those under age 21 are in a binge-drinking episode, according to the U.S. In contrast adolescents are more sensitive to the memory disruption and neurotoxic effects produced by alcohol compared to adults. Detectable after only one or two drinks the severity of memory loss is proportional to the amount of alcohol ingested. In fact heavy drinking episodes can actually result in a blackout whereby a person is later unable to recall events that occurred during the time of drinking.

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You need quick decision-making, reflexes, accurate perception, and multitasking
skills to drive well and safely. And remember, driving with any alcohol in your bloodstream or
in your car is illegal if you�re under the age of 21. Alcohol affects you in the short term, in the long term, and while driving.

Dager and her team gave the young people lists of words and word pairs to study while recording their brain activity. The drinkers remembered 78 percent of the words, compared with 85 percent in the nondrinkers. Activity was significantly higher in parts of the prefrontal and parietal cortex of the drinkers during both learning and testing phases, probably reflecting increased effort, Dager says.

How Alcohol Affects the Adolescent Brain

The teenage years are a wondrous, unforgettable time, as the body is going through radical (and sometimes awkward) changes. The teenage body and mind are in the process of substantial development. These years are crucial for proper development and any decisions made within this time frame will affect the structural development of the brain and cognitive growth. A substance that the teenage brain is especially vulnerable to is alcohol. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), alcohol is the most commonly used and misused drug among young people in the United States.

For example when compared to adult rats, adolescent rats demonstrate less alcohol-induced impairments in balance and coordination (signs of intoxication) and more alcohol-induced impairments in learning and memory. The developing brain of the teenage years may help explain why adolescents sometimes make decisions that seem to be quite risky and may lead to safety or health concerns. The juvenile brain is still maturing in the teenage years and reasoning and judgment are developing well into the early to mid-20s. Alcohol affects personality by reducing inhibitions and encouraging extroversion. The terms “happy drunk” or “angry drunk” are well known, and they apply to teenagers as well. Notably, alcohol is often cited as the cause of erratic or violent behavior, which can lead to a visit to the emergency room or the local jail.

Effects of Alcohol on Teenage Brain Development

The frontal lobes, which include the prefrontal cortex, control what most of the rest of the brain does. The prefrontal cortex is located behind the eyes and is often referred to as the executive control center. For example, the prefrontal cortex allows us to stave off the urge for immediate gratification in favor of longer-term goals.

Without plasticity, adults would retain only the same amount of knowledge they had when they were born. I’ve spent the last six years researching and understanding alcoholism, addiction, and how people get sober. According to the CDC, underage drinking remains a big problem in the United States. Here are some useful facts and trends from the 2019 Youth Behavior Risk Survey.

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Check out this post for 7 tips to keep kids drug and alcohol free. The brain rewards positive actions with feelings of pleasure so we want to repeat them. Alcohol and drugs hijack the brain by producing those “feel-good” brain chemicals, or neurotransmitters, from a harmful chemical, instead of a real experience. During adolescence, the brain is extremely busy processing new experiences. The prefrontal cortex is especially productive at this time, and it is one of the last parts of the brain to reach maturity. Alcohol abuse during adolescence can also lead to an increased risk of substance abuse in the future.

For adolescents, drinking alcohol can make it even more difficult to control impulses and make healthy choices. In both adolescents and adults, drinking also compromises the ability to sense danger by disrupting the function of a brain region called the amygdala. Alcohol often produces rewarding feelings such as euphoria or pleasure that trick the brain into thinking the decision to drink alcohol was a positive one and that motivate drinking again in the future. Research indicates that brain development is still in progress during adolescence, with significant changes continuing into the early 20s. Immature brain regions place teenagers at elevated risk to the effects of drugs and alcohol.

If you’re going to a party and you know there will be alcohol, plan your strategy in advance. You and a friend can develop a signal for when it’s time to leave, for example. You can also make sure that you have plans to do something besides just hanging out in someone’s basement drinking beer all night. Plan a trip to the movies, the mall, a concert, or a sports event.

This makes a teenager more vulnerable to impulsive actions, such as violent outbursts. The hippocampus is also affected by alcohol and this area governs memory retention. Excessive drinking can damage an adolescent’s short-term and long-term memory. Alcohol can also damage the cerebellum, leading to problems with balance, as well as the hypothalamus.

It is thought to be the center of emotion, memory and the involuntary nervous system. First, let me say that I understand how hard this is and what you’re up against. I taught middle school for 14 years and saw the types of pressures our kids are under. Even though my own daughter is still small, I know all this How Drinking Affects The Teenage Brain conversation is coming sooner than I’d like. Have difficult conversations now so they are prepared to handle risky situations that may arise in college or straight out of high school. They won’t come to you or be honest if they feel like they’ll get in trouble for admitting to trying alcohol or wanting to.