Cue Response Adolescence

The blood flow of the brain is below average and can cause significant damage to tissues in the brain. The flow of the blood cannot efficiently reach the brain and brain functions are altered. Light and heavy drinkers suffer from poor spatial working memory. Alcohol can also affect the verbal part of the brain and there can be poor verbal learning and processing (Mattson 2). A study compared adolescents that drink with adolescents that do not drink and found that the adolescents that drank remembered 10% less information than the kids that did not drink. These findings have been consistent over the years (Squeglia 3).

The use of alcohol will have a significant impact on a person’s brain which causes other parts of the body to be affected. As an adolescent, alcohol can have a much more negative effect on the brain, since it is not fully developed.

Studies have shown that the developing adolescent frontal cortex is much more sensitive to damage than the adult frontal cortex, even with the same amount of alcohol” (Binge Drinking in Adolescence Can Hinder Adjustment to Adulthood). Crew’s explained that: “brain scans performed on rats showed that adolescent binge drinking in rats led to a smaller forebrain volume and size. The animals also showed significantly less behavioral flexibility compared to those that weren’t exposed to alcohol” (Dangers of College Binge Drinking)The study also found “reductions in the activity of neurotransmitter genes 24 hours after binge-drinking in adolescent animals. As adults, the animals showed even greater reductions, averaging 73 percent” (Dangers of College Binge Drinking). Dr. Crews said that their findings suggest that people who drink heavily during adolescence could be more likely to have “difficulty adapting successfully to changing life situations as adults, possibly because of changes to the frontal cortex, the part of the brain that is associated with predicting consequences, impulse control, reasoning, and long- and short-term rewards” (Dangers of College Binge Drinking). When a person is 21 or older their body and brain are completely

Statistics say that 8.7 million Americans between the ages twelve and through twenty said they have recently consumed alcohol(“NIH)”. When a person is under the influence, they have consumed enough alcohol for their mental and physical features to become impaired. Teenage drinking is an issue that has haunted society for generations. Each year, approximately 5,000 teenagers die from alcohol related car crashes, alcohol poisoning, homicides, suicides, and other injuries (“Underage”). Scientists say that developmental transitions are key factors in a teens decision to consume alcohol. Therefore, because the teen’s brain is undeveloped, it has led them to drink. Drinking alcohol with an undeveloped brain may cause a loss of intellectual capabilities,

Drinking at a younger age affects the brain’s development that’s harmful for one’s health. The frontal lobe is used for emotional response and regulation which are essential, and the consumption of alcohol interferes with its development (“Procon”). Lowering the legal minimum drinking age leaves the youth open to brain development problems at an earlier stage in life. The risk for potential chronic problems are greater with the consumption of alcohol like an increased risk of addiction, poor decision making, memory loss, depression, violence, and increased risk of suicide (‘Procon”). The brain needs time to develop and

One of the most important organs in the body is the brain; it should develop and mature without any disturbance that it will cause it to no longer grow and stop functioning. Michelle Trudeau in the article “Teen Drinking May Cause Irreversible Brain Damage” said, “… damaged nerve tissue in the brains of the teens who drank. The researchers believe this damage negatively affects attention span in boys, and girls' ability to comprehend and interpret visual information.” Drinking at an immature age will cause long term effects on the teens and their developing bodies and organs due to the toxic effects of drugs and alcohol. According to Trudeau, “…the binge drinkers did worse on thinking and memory tests” and in the article, “Young People Versus Adults. What’s The Difference?”, states, “Drinking during this critical growth period can lead to lifelong damage in brain function, particularly as it relates to memory, motor skills (ability to move) and coordination.” Because the brain will be effected by the toxic substance in alcohol, the nerve tissue will be damaged causing problems with the memory which is in the medial temporal lobe of the brain. Teenage brain is less mature than the adult’s brain.

The brain is a crucial area in psychological development. Although the entire organ can be affected the frontal lobes which are responsible for a “higher level” of thinking are most affected. Higher level of thinking can be planning, decision making, and judgement. The other important area of the brain affected is the hippocampus which is a crucial area of learning. People who have severe damage to this part of the brain are unable to retain any new information and have a hard time remembering what they just learned. However, they can still retrieve old memories. When these two areas of the brain are affected because of alcohol consumption, students are unable to be successful in school. Data form several national studies indicate that drinking and academic impairment are associated (Engs et al., 1996; Perkins, 1992; Presley et al., 1996a,b; Wechsler et al., 1994, 1998,2000b). Students that once had a high GPA get lower grades after consuming

One of the major problems in society is alcoholism. The effects of this disease are very dangerous and serious. Alcohol can cause many problems in a person’s life without them even being aware of it. People who have been drinking large amounts of alcohol for long periods of time run the risk of developing serious and persistent changes in the brain. While several decades of research with adults have shown that chronic heavy drinking is associated with adverse consequences on the adult brain, this relationship has only recently been explored in the adolescent brain.

In an article written published in Clinic EEG Neuroscience in January 2009, The Influences of Substance Use on Adolescent Brain Development, much of the neurodevelopment occurs during adolescents. It is a unique and critical period of time in development. When adolescents use alcohol and marijuana research has shown abnormalities in the brain function levels. Studies were done suing neuropsychological assessment and structural and functional imaging to show the relationship between

The vital function of this part of the brain is to control cognitive functioning, so therefore alcoholics are at a risk of impaired decision making and thereafter are prone to inappropriate behaviours. (K. Abernathy, L. J Chandler & J.J. Woodward, 2010) Chronic alcohol can also have significant impacts on prefrontal functioning. Participants who engaged in alcohol related activities showed less “cerebral grey matter in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex” (Jernigan et al, 1991) Patients who are exposed to bilateral or left unilateral frontal impairment produced less words on the affluence test for words, as opposed to the control group (Eslinger & Grattan, 1993). In support of this cognitive dysfunction, Rylander (1939) also provided research, highlighting that 21 out of 32 patients with damaged frontal lobes scored poorly with tests concerning ones intellectual capabilities. This therefore leads researchers to conclude that the pre-frontal cortex which plays a major role in decision making and subsequently, if damaged can have significant impacts on cognitive

The central nervous system consists of the brain and the spinal cord and it tells the body what to do. When alcohol is consumed it is absorbed quickly into the blood stream through the stomach lining and could travel to the brain in a matter of minutes. If the brain is introduced to alcohol at these early stages, it will interrupt brain development. According to information issued from the U.S. government publication entitled Prevention Alert, “Subtle alcohol- induced adolescent learning impairments could affect academic and occupational achievement. In one study……..short term memory skills were evaluated in alcohol dependent and non dependent adolescent’s ages 15 and 16 showed that the dependent youth had greater difficulty remembering words and simple geometric designs after a 10 minute interval” (teendrugabuse.us).

The topic of brains scans, drug use and teenagers has been of much interest to many experimenters. Drug use can be defined as continues use of alcohol, illegal drugs or the misuse of over-the-counter drugs or prescription drugs leading to negative consequences. This is done by the use of brain scans, including MRI scans; also know as magnetic resonance imaging. This type of brain scan allows scientist to see detailed images of the organs and tissues within your body by a technique that uses a magnetic field and radio waves. The magnetic field temporarily realigns hydrogen atoms in the body and is able to show brain activity. The main point of this type of study is to help predict what a teenagers drug use problem will be, if any, before it

Adolescence poses a greater risk for the negative impacts that marijuana may have on cognitive function. (George et al., 2015). During adolescent the brain is still under construction at least until the early or mid 20’s. (George et al., 2015). The brain is thought to be particularly sensitive to damage from drug exposure. (Gruber et al., 2014). And the frontal cortex – the region critical to planning, judgement,

The use and abuse of substances can have a big impact on children and adolescents. It comes with various negative health affects. The use of alcohol and other drugs can affect the development of adolescents’ brains in ways like decreased performance in cognitive tasks like memory, attention and spatial skills as well as compromised quality of white matter in the brain. Using alcohol and other substances that alter the brain function can result in an increased risk of serious drug use later on in life, failure in school, and poor judgments that can result in

As a teenager, I understand the temptations there are when it comes to alcohol. All your friends are doing it, you’ll be cool if you do it, no one will ever find out , you’ll be fine, it’ll be fun, etc., but as soon as you take that first drink you’re causing problems to your health. “Alcohol can cause alterations in the structure and function of the developing brain”. The alcohol affects the brain’s development