Effects of Alcohol on a Child’s Mind.
Taking of alcohol has been viewed to be more dangerous to young, growing adults as their brains are still under development. Alcohol is said to affect the brain of the victim, and for that reason, it is not recommended for teens to get involved in taking such drinks at their childhood and adolescent stages (Moore et al., 2014). When teens start taking alcohol at this critical period of growth can lead to long-term effects on the brain function, especially as it relates to memory, motor skills (capability of moving), and coordination or concentration. Research has proven that alcohol impairs the development and functioning of the brain at its development stages and may end up causing severe problems to the individuals (Vargas et al., 2014). The primary purpose of this work is to provide evidence-based information to address the question of how alcohol affects the development of the brain in young adulthood.
Several abnormalities accompany alcohol drinkers, particularly during brain development in young adults. Such complications are brought about by taking alcohol to alter the trajectory of brain development in young children and adolescents. Treit, Lebel, Baugh, Rasmussen, Andrew, & Beaulieu conducted research in 2013, which involved 17 participants with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders and a control group of 27 participants, all aged between 5 to 15 years. The groups were to undergo diffusion tensor scanning for 2 to 4 years (Treit et al., 2013). The results indicate an altered trajectory of brain development, where fractional anisotropy increased while mean diffusivity decreased in the two groups. It was reported that there was a reduction in the total brain, white and gray matter volumes, and a less significant increase in volume related to age in the experimental group (Treit et al., 2013). Delayed development in the white matter was observed during childhood and adolescence in the experimental group, which may result in persistent behavioral and mental problems in this period of growth (Treit et al., 2013). However, the limitation with this study is that those children in current stable home placements were involved and were expected to tolerate the Magnetic resonance imaging scanner to provide data at least two times while excluding those profoundly affected children.
The use of alcohol has been found to have adverse effects on the structure of the brain and the behavior of growing adults, especially during rapid brain development e.g., prenatally. Research conducted in the recent past suggests that alcohol use disorders among adolescents are linked with interruptions in gray and white matter micro-structure volumes of the brain. Luciana, Collins, Muetzel, & Lim conducted a study to assess developing adolescents who had no experience with alcohol for two years to examine the effects of alcohol on the neurodevelopment. A sample of 55 participants was used where 30 of the participants aged between 15 to 18 years were initiated to alcohol while another group of 25 was a control group with participants aged between 16 to 18 years (Luciana et al., 2013). The results showed that the experimental group had altered patterns of neurodevelopment. A reduction in the cortical volume of the right and middle frontal gyrus and reduced growth of the white matter in the right precentral hemisphere, lingual and middle temporal gyrus, and anterior cingulate was observed (Luciana et al., 2013). The authors thus resolved that alcohol use during the adolescent stage is linked with the neurodevelopment deviations in several brain tissue categories.
A study that was conducted by Squeglia, Rinker, Bartsch, Castro, Chung, Dale, & Tapert in 2014 shows that teens involved in too much drinking have a reduced brain volume, particularly in subcortical and temporal regions. The participants in the study were 40 healthy adolescents between the age of 12 years and 17 years. Half of them were initiated in excess intake of alcohol (experimental group) for three years, and the other lot was the control group. After continued heavy alcohol intake, at baseline, the experimental group showed a great volume reduction in the left ventral, inferior and middle temporal gyrus, brain stem, and caudate (Squeglia et al., 2014). The authors concluded by stating that there would be a pre-existing volume variation in the frontal regions of the brain in the future for alcohol takers and volume reduction of the brain in subcortical and temporal sections when one starts taking alcohol (Squeglia et al., 2014). However, the sample was made up of healthy adolescents, and for that reason, the results may not be generalized to clinical or even lower functioning sample.
Conclusion
The potential of the studies lies in the capability to successfully illustrate the impacts of using alcohol in safe non-using samples. Given the less-hazardous nature of the samples, the results provided are convincing in signifying that sub-cortical and cortical connectivity patterns are developmentally interfered with as a role of sub-clinical points of alcohol usage, possibly resulting to future disturbances in behavioral control. There are adverse effects of alcohol on the developing brain of a young adult. The effects have been found to include a reduction in the brain volume as well as white and gray matter volumes and delayed development of white matter in those young adults affected by alcohol presence in the body.