Heavy alcohol use in adolescence alters brain electrical activity
Long-term heavy use of alcohol in adolescence alters cortical excitability and functional connectivity in the brain, according to a new study from the University of Eastern Finland and Kuopio University Hospital. These alterations were observed in physically and mentally healthy but heavy-drinking adolescents, who nevertheless did not fulfil the diagnostic criteria for a substance abuse disorder. The findings were published in Addiction Biology. Constituting part of the Adolescents and Alcohol Study, the study analysed the effects of heavy adolescent drinking on the electrical activity