How Does Teenage Drinking Affect The Brain

Intaking alcohol can be very risky and harmful to the brain. During the teen years or in early adulthood the human brain undergoes a large amount of time of development that is very important. If alcohol is present, it only takes thirty seconds for it to effect the brain and thus it begins to decreases that important development (Shannon). "Alcohol can effect parts of the

The article, “Alcohol can rewire the teenage brain,” starts by stating that more than 4,750 American kids aged 15 and younger, said they took their first drink of alcohol already. Kids who start drinking before the age of 15 are more likely to become alcoholics because they get addicted to the drug. The article also states that they are more likely to start binge drinking. A study conducted by Lorena Siqueira a pediatrician at the Florida International University and Nicklaus Children’s hospital in Miami, reported that, “When kids drink, they tend to do heavy drinking,” and that, “Their bodies are not ready to handle that kind of alcohol.” Teens think that alcohol will help them feel happier and better, but that is not true. Teens also drink

As a college student, alcohol is a very real and prevalent temptation. It is a normal occurrence for a Friday night to be filled with friends, a bonfire, and alcohol out on the lake. Unfortunately, not many students know the effects of alcohol on their brain. I took a personal interest in this subject because alcoholism runs deep in my family. I want to know what effects my personal consumption of alcohol have on my brain and how they will affect my life if I continue to drink or choose to stop.

Alcohol is a liquid substance that can which when consumed slows down the brain. It also alters the brain to increase the risk of depression and anxiety. When too much alcohol is consumed it can cause memory loss.

Even though people think that it doesn’t affect the brain when they drink it really does. Drinking by those below the age of 21 is strongly linked with school performance problems such as higher absenteeism and poor or failing grades. Alcohol has many effects on the brain such as impaired memory, slurred speech, blurred vision, and difficulty walking. When teens drink these effects can be more harmful to their not fully developed brain. Alcohol furthermore diminishes the size of the brain and affects the reaction time of the person drinking. Drinking can cause blackouts or memory loss, which can be harmful to teens and may cause them to do something they regret. Drinking does affect the brain and the effects can have a long-term effect on teenagers.

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

There are many consequences of binge drinking. It causes a lot of health problems in an adolescent’s life, possibly short or long term. Feeling nauseated, having a hangover and memory loss are just a few of many things that are short term. In addition to short term effects, the long term effects are more severe and even deadly. One of the worst long term effects of binge drinking is the loss of brain stem cells. Dr Fulton Crews, mentioned that “The adolescent 's brain is much more sensitive to alcohol toxicity than adults’, including being vulnerable to cell death.”

Alcohol can cause alterations in the structure, and the consequences may be evident beyond adolescence. Even though alcohol appears to be a stimulant, really it is a central nervous system depressant, depressing the brains inhibition control center (“too smart to start”). Neuron connectivity is vital to every human. Connectivity can be slowed down by alcohol consumption, which leads the person to think, speak, and move slower (“too smart to start”). Long term effects include memory loss and continuity of poor judgement. The cerebral cortex works with the senses; when the senses are debilitated, information is forgotten and senses do not function properly. The hippocampus regulates a person’s memories. When consuming too much alcohol, or even just one or two drinks, the hippocampus will damage, and a person will struggle remembering minor and large details. Teenagers often gloat over not being able to remember the night before. Even though their night may have been an “awesome blackout” their hippocampus has already been permanently damaged. The person now, can not hold on to knowledge and learn the same as before. The cerebellum controls coordination, thoughts and awareness (“too smart to start”). On most occasions, people have problems with these skills when consuming alcohol. In grade school, D.A.R.E. representatives brought “drunk goggles” to school. Studies show that alcoholism in the cerebellum

Some may think that teenagers are grown up enough and are mature enough to drink alcoholic beverages at the age of eighteen. However, research indicates otherwise. To start off, alcohol is very harmful to the brain. It kills brain cells, and it affects the cerebellum, medulla, hippocampus and many other parts of the brain. It can be seen why alcohol is so dangerous in the article “Alcohol and Developing Brain”. The author says, “Alcohol is a central nervous system depressant. Alcohol can appear to be a stimulant because, initially, it depresses the part of the brain that controls inhibitions” (toosmarttostart.samhsa.gov). Since

Furthermore, many scholars argued that heavy drinking may be associated with negative mental and physical health. Evidence demonstrates that exposure to alcohol can cause irreversible brain damage. After reading various research, I determined that age is an important factor in the development of alcohol tolerance, and I also reflected on the outcome it can have on the brain. Marisa M Silveri, an associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School carried out a research on separate age groups, and came out with the following results:

http://www.alcoholism.tqn.com/library/weekly/aa022697.htm?pid=2750&cob=home. Whether a crime was committed intentionally or unintentionally has great bearing on the decision of a jury in finding a person guilty of a crime and/or on the judge's choice of punishment. You might have heard of husbands apologizing to their wives the day after they've beaten them. Their apology might sound something like, "I'm so sorry. I did not mean to hurt you, I swear!" Does alcohol have the capability to make a person forget? Can a person be unaware of his surroundings and yet still be able to interact with it? More importantly, can alcohol change a person's personality enough that it would cause him to do things

The students that drink too much do not understand that drinking just a little can affect the brain with a lot of force. Once in the bloodstream, alcohol reaches the brain quickly and begins to affect nerve cells. It slows the messages that travel along nerve fibers. Only a small amount of alcohol is needed to impair the normal

By conducting interviews with psychiatrists, PhD students and adolescent alcohol researchers, I obtained current information, where there were scarce secondary sources which explored the effects of alcohol on the adolescent brain. This process was highly beneficial because it increased the reliability of my research and substantiated emerging Key Finding 1 – that adolescent neuroplasticity increases their susceptibility to alcohol related mental illness. For example, Fiona Griffith stated that “the brain is going through a major upgrade in adolescence” though “alcohol consumption can impact the ability to regulate emotion” (2017) due to extensive plasticity. Therefore, this developed my question by enhancing the quality of information, as

There are so many impacts that alcohol has on your body-acute effects, short-term effects, and long-term effects. A person’s brain is affected extremely from alcohol. While you are under the influence, cognitive abilities are affected even with the smallest measures of alcohol. Memory cells and those

Alcohol also has a significant affect on the heart. The heart is the main part of the body that needs to stay healthy and consumption of alcohol can cause irregular heartbeat, strokes, and high blood pressure. Consumption of alcohol causes many future health risks such as; increase risk of cancer, cirrhosis, fibrosis, and alcohol hepatitis (Heath 170).