A biologist colleague sent me the link to this new and interesting  
science article. It reports the results of a study of the effect of  
binge drinking on the hippocampus of adolescent primates. Long story  
short it suggests that enough binge drinking might alter (or damage)  
the adolescent brain in a way that predisposes the young binge  
drinker to an adulthood with alcohol problems.

"Studies in animal models confirm that adolescence is a period of  
high vulnerability, with various developmental, behavioral,  
neuroendocrine, and pharmacological factors, as well as alcohol- 
induced neuroplastic and neurodegenerative outcomes, which drive the  
adolescent's propensity to excessively or compulsively drink alcohol  
in adulthood (3–8). The hippocampal memory system may be at  
particular risk for alcoholic insult . . . The cellular alterations  
produced by chronic binge alcohol consumption in a nonhuman primate  
model may underlie some of the behavioral effects of alcohol drinking  
in humans. Alcohol abuse in humans produces cognitive deficits on  
tasks that may be at least partially dependent on hippocampal  
circuitry. These include increased evidence of impulsivity as well as  
deficits in spatial learning, short-term memory, and executive  
function (52). The present results suggest that alcohol-induced  
reductions in hippocampal neurogenesis during adolescence may lead to  
hippocampal degeneration as one of several factors that may increase  
the vulnerability to alcohol use disorders (53)."

http://www.pnas.org/content/107/24/11104.full

Long-lasting reduction in hippocampal neurogenesis by alcohol  
consumption in adolescent nonhuman primates
Michael A. Taffe,
Roxanne W. Kotzebue,
Rebecca D. Crean,
Elena F. Crawford,
Scott Edwards, and
Chitra D. Mandyam
PNAS June 15, 2010 vol. 107 no. 24 11104-11109

Jon Miller, Ph.D., Associate Professor of English
Assistant Department Chair and Undergraduate Advisor
Olin 301B, Department of English, The University of Akron, 44325-1906
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