Adolescence is not only a crucial period in terms of cognitive, emotional and social maturation, but it coincides with the awakening of alcohol consumption for many of them and, frequently, this consumption tends to start strongly without taking into account the long-term consequences term.
Drinking alcohol in excess during adolescence can have very negative consequences for brain development , according to the latest study by the Duke University School of Medicine (USA) and collected in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research .
The study’s findings detail that drinking too much alcohol causes damage to the area of the brain that controls long-term memory and learning, affecting the growth of a brain that still needs to develop fully. “In the eyes of the law, once young people reach the age of 18 they are considered adults, but the brain continues to mature and refine until they are over 20 years old,” explains study co-author Mary-Louise Risher.
To reach this conclusion, the researchers conducted an experiment with young rats that were exposed to certain levels of alcohol for 16 days, with a time similar to human adolescence . After this, they received no more alcohol, which allowed the rats to mature to adulthood for 24-29 days. During the research, the experts measured a cellular mechanism known as long-term potentiation (LTP) in the hippocampus, one of the molecular bases of memory .
Thus, a high synaptic activity is the best sign that learning is being efficient, hence the LTP is higher in younger people because they tend to acquire large amounts of information in memory; much more than when we approach adulthood.
The results of the study revealed a structural change in hippocampal nerve cells along with an overactive LTP; furthermore, the dendritic spines, where the majority of neuron synapses occur, appeared as if they were immature, lanky and long (mature ones are short and with a mushroom-like appearance). Regarding hyperactive LTP, it is not something positive despite what it might seem: “an animal that produces too much LTP will eventually stop learning, since in order to learn to be efficient, the brain needs a delicate balance of excitation and inhibition and too much of either. of them makes the brain circuits not work optimally ”, explains Scott Swartzwelder, co-author of the study.
” It is very possible that alcohol alters the maturation process of brain circuits , which can affect cognitive function later on,” Risher says.
