MADD Teen Influencer
April 2023
In a study conducted by neuroscientist Susan Tapert and featured on NPR, underage drinking was shown to “negatively [affect] attention span in boys” and the “ability to comprehend and interpret visual information” in girls. Tapert took brain scans of teens that drank heavily and compared them with teens that didn’t. She found that nerve tissue was damaged in the brains of those teens that drank. “First of all, the adolescent brain is still undergoing several maturational processes that render it more vulnerable to some of the effects of substances,” Tapert explains. Given the prevalence of underage drinking, these data points are of significant concern. The effects of alcohol on the teenage brain are not only overwhelmingly negative but can also be irreversible. When non-drinking teenagers were compared with alcohol-using teenagers, the latter showed lower brain volume and decreased density within the hippocampus as well as the prefrontal cortex. Memory and learning are key elements of the hippocampus. Heavy and long periods of alcohol abuse can be associated with a ten percent reduction size in the hippocampus. The prefrontal cortex is also vulnerable to these same changes. The prefrontal cortex assists in decision-making, planning, and impulse control. Studies have shown a decrease in prefrontal volumes, meaning impulsivity and self control can be greatly affected. There’s no telling what kind of effects on the younger population we might see in the near future, knowing all of this. As a teenager who has chosen not to drink in high school, these facts are shocking.
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