title: The effect of alcohol use on human adolescent brain structures and systems.
abstract: This article reviews the neurocognitive and neuroimaging literature regarding the effect of alcohol use on human adolescent brain structure and function. Adolescents who engage in heavy alcohol use, even at subdiagnostic levels, show differences in brain structure, function, and behavior when compared with non-drinking controls. Preliminary longitudinal studies have helped disentangle premorbid factors from consequences associated with drinking. Neural abnormalities and cognitive disadvantages both appear to predate drinking, particularly in youth who have a family history of alcoholism, and are directly related to the neurotoxic effect of alcohol use. Binge drinking and withdrawal and hangover symptoms have been associated with the greatest neural abnormalities during adolescence, particularly in frontal, parietal, and temporal regions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Lindsay M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Squeglia
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, CA, USA; Psychology Service, VA San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Joanna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jacobus
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, CA, USA; Psychology Service, VA San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, CA, USA. Electronic address: stapert@ucsd.edu.
authors.forename: Susan F
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Tapert
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D041923:Adolescent Development / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000473:pathology*; D001921:Brain / Q000187:drug effects / Q000254:growth & development / Q000473:pathology*; D000431:Ethanol / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D000066608:Underage Drinking
chemical_list: D000431:Ethanol
keywords: adolescence; alcohol; development; imaging; neurocognition