[Prefrontal activity and weekend alcoholism in the young].
BACKGROUND
High alcohol consumption by young people at weekends is a public health problem of considerable social and family importance. Chronic alcohol intake causes structural changes in the central nervous system, though the effects are not uniform throughout the brain. The prefrontal cortex (PC) has been reported to be one of the regions most sensitive to prolonged alcohol ingestion.


OBJECTIVE
The effects of chronic ethanol exposure have been extensively studied. Our aim is to identify the neuropsychological deficits in PC function induced by intermittent heavy alcohol drinking in young adults.


METHODS
Neuropsychological assessment was carried out on participants to examine their performance in PC-dependent tasks. 62 subjects (mean age 18.82+/-1.099) were assigned to one of three categories: 1) Those reporting heavy binge drinking of alcohol at weekends (ALE); 2) Those reporting moderate binge drinking of alcohol at weekends (ALM); and 3) Those reporting no alcohol intake (CTR).


CONCLUSIONS
The findings indicate that intermittent alcohol binge drinking, either heavy or moderate, in young people results in poorer performance in neuropsychological tasks such as Digits, Corsi or Stroop, which depend on correct PC functioning. Our results support the claim that the binge pattern of exposure to ethanol leads to neurocognitive and neurobehavioural impairment equivalent, in many respects, to that found in chronic drinkers. Moreover, intermittent heavy alcohol drinking in adolescence and early adulthood increases the risks of lifetime alcohol dependence and other psychopathologies.
García-Moreno
Luis Miguel
LM
Sección Departamental de Psicobiología, Facultad de Educación, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, C/Rector Royo Villanova s/n, Madrid. luismgm@edu.ucm.es
Expósito
Javier
J
Sanhueza
Claudia
C
Angulo
Ma Teresa
MT
D000293:Adolescent; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013997:Time Factors