Initiating moderate to heavy alcohol use predicts changes in neuropsychological functioning for adolescent girls and boys.

Abstract

This study prospectively examines the influence of alcohol on neuropsychological functioning in a sample of boys and girls who were characterized prior to initiating drinking (N=76, ages 12-14). Adolescents who transitioned into heavy (n= 25; 11 female, 14 male) or moderate (n=11; 2 female, 9 male) drinking were compared to demographically-matched controls who remained non-users throughout the approximately 3-year follow-up period (n=40; 16 female, 24 male). For girls, more drinking days in the past year predicted a greater reduction in performance on visuospatial tasks from baseline to follow-up, above and beyond performance on equivalent measures at baseline (R 2 Δ = 10%, p <. 05), particularly on tests of visuospatial memory (R 2 Δ = 8%, p < .05). For boys, a tendency was seen for more hangover symptoms in the year before follow-up testing to predict a relative worsening of sustained attention (R 2 Δ = 7%, p < .05). These preliminary longitudinal findings suggest that initiating moderately heavy alcohol use and incurring hangover during adolescence may adversely influence neurocognitive functioning. Neurocognitive deficits linked to heavy drinking during this critical developmental period may lead to direct and indirect changes in neuromaturational course, with effects that would extend into adulthood.

Learning and Memory Performances in Adolescent Users of Alcohol and Marijuana: Interactive Effects

“…Adolescents, who tend to demonstrate greater sensitivity to the effects of alcohol on cognition (White et al, 2000), exhibit decrements associated with heavy drinking in verbal memory, visuospatial functioning, and attention (Brown et al, 2000;Squeglia et al, 2009;Tapert and Brown, 1999). In particular, lifetime alcohol hangover and withdrawal in youth has been shown to predict poorer recall of verbal and nonverbal information from memory (Brown et al, 2000), decreased sustained attention (Squeglia et al, 2009), as well as reduced visuospatial skills (Tapert et al, 2002) and brain response during spatial working memory (Tapert et al, 2004).…”

Alcohol Consumption in Movies and Adolescent Binge Drinking in 6 European Countries

“…2 There is consistent evidence that higher alcohol consumption in adolescence continues into adulthood and is also associated with later alcohol problems and alcohol dependence. 3 Furthermore, heavy alcohol use in adolescence has been found to be related to suicide, 4,5 neurocognitive impairment, 6 and impaired brain development. 7 Thus, preventing underage drinking is an important public health goal.…”

Alcohol Consumption and Executive Functions in Adolescents: A Systematic Review

“…El 38,46 % de los trece artículos encontrados evaluaron dicho componente (31,(40)(41)(42)(43). Una elevada proporción (80 %) no encontró resultados significativos respecto al efecto del consumo de alcohol en la planificación, solo uno (4) dirigido a evaluar el consumo excesivo y dependiente de alcohol encontró que el número de bebidas consumidas en un día típico puede alterar esta función.…”

“…Otro componente incluido fue la velocidad de procesamiento, que es definido como el tiempo de respuesta ante una tarea e implica una secuencia temporal de operaciones cognitivas; aquí se destaca la toma de decisiones. De la muestra total, el 23 % midió este componente (31,42,43), sin embargo la mayoría (66,66 %) no encontró disminución en el desempeño de este proceso ante el consumo de alcohol.…”

“…Considerando la inclusión de la memoria visoespacial, este componente fue el más estudiado por los artículos localizados en la presente revisión: de la totalidad de las publicaciones localizadas, nueve (69,23 %) evaluaron este componente, de las cuales cuatro estudiaron la memoria de trabajo (38,42,45,46) y cinco el desempeño y la memoria visoespacial (31,(41)(42)(43)47). Respecto a la memoria de trabajo, el 50 % encontró que el consumo de alcohol con patrón binge puede alterar el desempeño de este proceso (45,46).…”