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Consequences: Introduction

Impaired Brain Development

Slowed Motor Skills

Difficulty Learning New Concepts/Ideas

Hindered Decision-Making Abilities

Weakened Athletic Performance

Health-Related Issues

Alcoholism as Adults

Legal Repercussions

Center for Applied Research Solutions (CARS)

Evaluation, Management and Training Associates (EMT)

Alcopops Summary Report

Facts On Adolescent Binge Drinking › Consequences › Difficulty Learning New Concepts/Ideas

Difficulty Learning New Concepts/Ideas

Long term binge drinking has been shown to affect learning, in particular, the region of the brain that aids in the formation of memories, called the hippocampus.13, ,

In studies involving humans, adolescents with alcohol use disorders had nearly 10% less volume in their hippocampus. These adolescents had a more difficult time accessing their memories than their peers. The hippocampus is the region of the brain that is vital to the formation of new memories. If a student has alcohol in their system while in class or studying, they are less likely to store information in their memory. Learning and storing memories are complex processes. The brain is working hard to turn the information learned into memories, even after one stops thinking about it. Therefore, drinking after spending a day in the library will often negate any work done.

Other research has found the following links between binge drinking and learning:

  • Teenage binge drinking has been linked to impaired mental and social development, reduced school performance and attainment, and increased likelihood of school drop-out.
  • Frequent binge drinkers were 8 times more likely than non-binge drinkers to miss a class, get behind in schoolwork, get hurt or injured, and damage property.
  • Eleventh-grade binge drinkers were four times more likely to have used alcohol on school property (24% vs. 6%), an indicator of heavy alcohol involvement, and almost three times more likely to have been drunk at school (30% vs. 11.5%).
  • Within 9th grade, one-sixth of binge drinkers reported getting into trouble in school and trouble with schoolwork, about six times higher than among occasional users.


 “Drinking to intoxication seems to be particularly associated with poorer functioning on tests of learning and memory and on visual-spatial tasks such as doing a puzzle.”
--Susan Tapert, associate professor of psychiatry at the University of California and one of the leading researchers using magnetic resonance imaging to assess the impact of binge drinking on the brain in youth.


References


Library Watch on Substance Use and the College Campus. Fall 2002. http://www.projectcork.org/newsletters/library_watch/2002/fall/html/College.html

Winters, K. C. & T. Mitchell. Under Construction: Adolescent Brain Development and its Implications for Preventing Alcohol and Drug Abuse. Prevention Tactics. 8(8):2005.

Winters, K. Alcohol and the Adolescent Brain: Tastes Great, Less Functioning. 2006.

Winters, K. C. & T. Mitchell. Under Construction: Adolescent Brain Development and its Implications for Preventing Alcohol and Drug Abuse. Prevention Tactics. 8(8):2005.

Winters, K. Alcohol and the Adolescent Brain: Tastes Great, Less Functioning. 2006.

Binge Drinking: Medical and Social Consequences. Institute of Alcohol Studies. http://www.ias.org.uk/factsheets/binge-drinkingmed.pdf

Green Zone. Office of Alcohol and Drug Education; University of Notre Dame. 2004. http://www.nd.edu/%7Ewebdev/alcohol_and_drug/green_zone.shtml

Winters, K. C. & T. Mitchell. Under Construction: Adolescent Brain Development and its Implications for Preventing Alcohol and Drug Abuse. Prevention Tactics. 8(8):2005.

White, A.M. Substance Use and the Adolescent Brain: An Overview with a Focus on Alcohol. Topics in Alcohol Research. Duke University. 2004. http://www.duke.edu/~amwhite/Adolescence/index.html

White, A.M. Substance Use and the Adolescent Brain: An Overview with a Focus on Alcohol. Topics in Alcohol Research. Duke University. 2004. http://www.duke.edu/~amwhite/Adolescence/index.html

Binge Drinking Hand Outs: Governor’s Prevention Advisory Council Statewide Strategic Planning Workgroup.  EMT Group, Inc. 2003.

Winters, K. Alcohol and the Adolescent Brain: Tastes Great, Less Functioning. 2006.

Green Zone. Office of Alcohol and Drug Education; University of Notre Dame. 2004. http://www.nd.edu/%7Ewebdev/alcohol_and_drug/green_zone.shtml

Winters, K. C. & T. Mitchell. Under Construction: Adolescent Brain Development and its Implications for Preventing Alcohol and Drug Abuse. Prevention Tactics. 8(8):2005.

Winters, K. Alcohol and the Adolescent Brain: Tastes Great, Less Functioning. 2006.

Winters, K. C. & T. Mitchell. Under Construction: Adolescent Brain Development and its Implications for Preventing Alcohol and Drug Abuse. Prevention Tactics. 8(8):2005.

Green Zone. Office of Alcohol and Drug Education; University of Notre Dame. 2004. http://www.nd.edu/%7Ewebdev/alcohol_and_drug/green_zone.shtml

Binge Drinking: Medical and Social Consequences. Institute of Alcohol Studies. http://www.ias.org.uk/factsheets/binge-drinkingmed.pdf

Binge Drinking Hand Outs: Governor’s Prevention Advisory Council Statewide Strategic Planning Workgroup.  EMT Group, Inc. 2003.

California Student Survey (CSS) Fact Sheet: Binge Drinking. 10th Biennial California Study Survey (2003-2004). WestEd. http://www.safestate.org/index.cfm?navid=254

Austin, G. Executive Summary: Heavy AOD Use Among California 9th and 11th Graders. Results of the 2003-04 California Student Survey. Jan. 8, 2006.

Binge Drinking: Medical and Social Consequences. Institute of Alcohol Studies. http://www.ias.org.uk/factsheets/binge-drinkingmed.pdf

Binge Drinking: Medical and Social Consequences. Institute of Alcohol Studies. http://www.ias.org.uk/factsheets/binge-drinkingmed.pdf

Binge Drinking: Medical and Social Consequences. Institute of Alcohol Studies. http://www.ias.org.uk/factsheets/binge-drinkingmed.pdf

Twitchell, G.R. Concentrated Alcohol Consumption by Heavy Drinkers: Associated Risks & Costs. UCLA Integrated Substance Abuse Programs. Nov. 2003.

Springer, J.F., Phillips, J., & B. Roberts. High Rate Underage Users: Need and Promise of a School-Based Solution: A Briefing Report to the Governor’s Prevention Advisory Council High Rate Users Workgroup. CARS. July 29, 2004.

Office of Applied Studies. 2004. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. NSDUH Report: Alcohol Dependence or Abuse and Age at First Use. Rockville, MD: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

Measures of Alcohol Consumption: Facts on Binge Drinking, Heavy Drinking, and Underage Drinking. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Dec. 8, 2005. http://communitydispatch.com/artman/publish/printer_3053.shtml. [Accessed on 08/01/06]

Binge Drinking: Medical and Social Consequences. Institute of Alcohol Studies. http://www.ias.org.uk/factsheets/binge-drinkingmed.pdf

Binge Drinking Hand Outs: Governor’s Prevention Advisory Council Statewide Strategic Planning Workgroup.  EMT Group, Inc. 2003.

Binge Drinking: Medical and Social Consequences. Institute of Alcohol Studies. http://www.ias.org.uk/factsheets/binge-drinkingmed.pdf

Binge Drinking Hand Outs: Governor’s Prevention Advisory Council Statewide Strategic Planning Workgroup.  EMT Group, Inc. 2003.

Youth and Underage Drinking: An Overview. US Department of Health and Human Services. http://ncadi.samhsa.gov/govpubs/RPO990/. [Accessed on 08/01/06]

California Student Survey (CSS) Fact Sheet: Binge Drinking. 10th Biennial California Study Survey (2003-2004). WestEd. http://www.safestate.org/index.cfm?navid=254

Springer, J.F., Phillips, J., & B. Roberts. High Rate Underage Users: Need and Promise of a School-Based Solution: A Briefing Report to the Governor’s Prevention Advisory Council High Rate Users Workgroup. CARS. July 29, 2004.

Alcohol and Athletic Performance. University Health Center; University of Georgia. 2005. http://www.UHS.UGA.EDU/ATOD/ATHLETIC-PERFORMANCE.HTML

Study Links Obesity, Other Health Problems to Adolescent Binge Drinking. University of Washington. July 8, 2004. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/07/040708004422.htm

Butler, K. The Grim Neurology of Teenage Drinking. The New York Times. July 4, 2006.

Hingson, R.W., T Heeren, and M.R. Winter. Age at Drinking Onset and Alcohol Dependence. Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine. 160:2006. www.archpediatrics.com. [Accessed on 07/14/06]

Legal Consequences for Underage Drinking and Other Drug Use. Families and Communties Together. Lowe Family Foundation. 2002. http://www.lowefamily.org/communities/legal.html. [Accessed on 08/02/06]

California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control Develops an Innovative Liquor Law Enforcement Program—TRACE—to Enforce Underage Drinking Laws. Successful Innovations: News from the Field. Underage Drinking Enforcement Training Center. Jan. 2005. http://www.udetc.org/success_stories/CA0105.pdf. [Accessed on 08/02/06]
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