Recent binge drinking predicts smaller cerebellar volumes in adolescents. Psychiatry Res 2013 Jan 30;211(1):17-23
Date
11/17/2012Pubmed ID
23154095Pubmed Central ID
PMC3670762DOI
10.1016/j.pscychresns.2012.07.009Scopus ID
2-s2.0-84872854473 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 80 CitationsAbstract
The current study examined the effects of recent binge drinking on cerebellar morphometry in a sample of healthy adolescents. Participants were 106 teenagers (46 bingers and 60 controls) aged 16-19 who received a high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan. FreeSurfer segmented and quantified the volume of each cerebellum. Maximum drinks during a binge in the past 3 months and duration since last binge were examined as predictors of cerebellar volume, after controlling for potentially confounding variables. In the 106 teens, higher peak drinks predicted smaller left hemisphere cerebellar gray and whitematter, and right hemisphere cerebellar gray matter, and marginally predicted smaller right hemisphere cerebellar white matter. Gender did not moderate these effects. More intense adolescent binge drinking is linked to smaller cerebellar volumes even in healthy teens, above and beyond variability attributable to risk factors for binge drinking. Longitudinal research is needed to see if cerebellar volumes worsen with protracted drinking and recover with abstinence. Interventions aimed at improving brain structure in adolescent binge drinkers are necessary given the high prevalence of risky drinking in youth.
Author List
Lisdahl KM, Thayer R, Squeglia LM, McQueeny TM, Tapert SFAuthor
Krista Lisdahl PhD Assistant Professor in the Psychology department at University of Wisconsin - MilwaukeeMESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
AdolescentBinge Drinking
Cerebellum
Ethanol
Female
Humans
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Male
Organ Size
Time Factors
Young Adult
