美国的一些青少年喜欢在假日聚会时酗酒。而美国的一项新研究显示，过度饮酒会阻碍青少年大脑发育。
美国加州大学圣迭戈分校的研究人员在学术期刊《酗酒：临床与实验研究》网络版上发表论文说，过度饮酒会损害青少年的记忆力和空间感知能力。
研究人员选取95名16岁至19岁的青少年进行调查，其中40人有酗酒习惯。研究人员对他们进行了空间感知和记忆测试，结果发现，酗酒者的测试结果都比较差。相对于男性青少年而言，年轻女性更易受酒精危害。
研究人员指出，从身体上看，一些青少年似乎已经长大成人，但实际上他们的大脑仍未发育成熟。过度饮酒会阻碍大脑细胞正常发育，尤其会对大脑额叶区域产生负面影响，从而削弱青少年的学习和运动能力，而且一次酗酒造成的这一影响会持续数月。(生物谷 Bioon.com)
生物谷推荐原文出处：
Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research doi： 10.1111/j.1530-0277.2011.01527.x
Adolescent Binge Drinking Linked to Abnormal Spatial Working Memory Brain Activation: Differential Gender Effects
Squeglia, Lindsay M.; Schweinsburg, Alecia Dager; Pulido, Carmen; Tapert, Susan F.
Keywords:Adolescence;Alcohol;Binge;Gender;fMRIBackground:Binge drinking is prevalent during adolescence, and its effect on neurocognitive development is of concern. In adult and adolescent populations, heavy substance use has been associated with decrements in cognitive functioning, particularly on tasks of spatial working memory (SWM). Characterizing the gender‐specific influences of heavy episodic drinking on SWM may help elucidate the early functional consequences of drinking on adolescent brain functioning.Methods: Forty binge drinkers (13 females, 27 males) and 55 controls (24 females, 31 males), aged 16 to 19years, completed neuropsychological testing, substance use interviews, and an SWM task during functional magnetic resonance imaging.Results: Significant binge drinking status×gender interactions were found (p<0.05) in 8 brain regions spanning bilateral frontal, anterior cingulate, temporal, and cerebellar cortices. In all regions, female binge drinkers showed less SWM activation than female controls, while male bingers exhibited greater SWM response than male controls. For female binge drinkers, less activation was associated with poorer sustained attention and working memory performances (p<0.025). For male binge drinkers, greater activation was linked to better spatial performance (p<0.025).Conclusion: Binge drinking during adolescence is associated with gender‐specific differences in frontal, temporal, and cerebellar brain activation during an SWM task, which in turn relate to cognitive performance. Activation correlates with neuropsychological performance, strengthening the argument that blood oxygen level–dependent activation is affected by alcohol use and is an important indicator of behavioral functioning. Females may be more vulnerable to the neurotoxic effects of heavy alcohol use during adolescence, while males may be more resilient to the deleterious effects of binge drinking. Future longitudinal research will examine the significance of SWM brain activation as an early neurocognitive marker of alcohol impact to the brain on future behaviors, such as driving safety, academic performance, and neuropsychological performance.
