NIX18 is a campaign launched by the Ministry of Health, Welfare, and Sport in collaboration with a number of major partners to raise awareness among young people (aged 10-24) and those around them about the harmful effects of drinking alcohol. This campaign is necessary because almost half of 14-year-olds and more than three-quarters of 16-year-olds have consumed alcohol. The question now is: how does this affect brain development?
CORE
Alcohol consumption among young people is associated with an accelerated decline in ‘gray matter’ (the substance in your brain that consists of nerve cells and is responsible for processing information) and a delayed increase in ‘white matter’ (the substance in your brain that consists of connections between nerve cells and ensures that information is transmitted). These findings suggest (with some caution) that alcohol consumption can lead to accelerated brain maturation in older adolescents. The results are summarized below.
RESEARCH METHOD
The study used three independent studies in which individuals were followed over a longer period of time and repeated measurements were taken: also known as a cohort study. All three cohorts collected information about alcohol consumption using questionnaires. A total of 200, 293, and 318 Dutch participants took part, respectively, with the age of the first measurement varying between 8 and 18 years. Data was also collected from all three cohorts using brain scans. The above data was used to investigate whether alcohol consumption by young people is associated with pre-existing differences in brain volume and in the development of gray and white matter in the brain.
RESULTS
It was demonstrated that alcohol consumption among young people was associated with an accelerated decline in total brain volume, including a decrease in gray matter and a delayed increase in white matter. In particular, the prefrontal cortex (involved in cognitive processes) and the limbic system (responsible for dealing with emotions and motivation) change significantly, which together have a major impact on self-control, decision-making, emotions, and risk-taking behavior.
DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
The study shows the first indications that alcohol consumption at any level is associated with altered neurological development tasks. Any alcohol consumption was associated with accelerated reduction of gray matter or reduced increase in white matter. This was not observed in a large group of younger adolescents who had just started drinking. Further research is needed to determine whether occasional drinking at a young age has no (yet) long-term effect on brain volume. In addition, it remains difficult to determine whether the observed associations are directly caused by alcohol consumption or whether there are other possible explanations.
DETAILS
Marroun, H. El, Klapwijk, T., Koevoets, M., Brouwer, R., Peters, S., Ent, D., van’t … Franken, I. (2021). Alcohol use and brain morphology in adolescence: A longitudinal study in three different cohorts. European Journal of Neuroscience, 6012-6026. https://doi.org/10.1111/ejn.15411
This sci-fly was written by Dion Mekenkamp for the course Recent Developments in Risk Behavior, Master’s PWO, 2022.
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