Twenty-First Birthday Drinking: Extreme Drinking Episodes and White Matter Microstructural Changes in the Fornix and Corpus Callosum

Resumen

Twenty-first birthday drinking is characterized by extreme alcohol consumption. Accumulating evidence suggests that high-dose bingeing is related to structural brain changes and cognitive deficits. This is particularly problematic in the transition from adolescence to adulthood when the brain is still maturing, elevating the brain’s sensitivity to the acute effects of alcohol intoxication. Heavy drinking is associated with reduced structural integrity in the hippocampus and corpus callosum and is accompanied by cognitive deficits. However, there is little research examining changes in the human brain related to discrete heavy drinking episodes. The present study investigated whether alcohol exposure during a 21st birthday celebration would result in changes to white matter microstructure by utilizing Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) measures and a quasi-experimental design. By examining structural changes in the brain from pre- to post-celebration within subjects (N = 49) prospectively, we were able to more directly observe brain changes following an extreme drinking episode. Region of interest analyses demonstrated increased fractional anisotropy (FA) in the posterior fornix (p < 0.0001) and in the body of the corpus callosum (p = 0.0029) from pre- to post-birthday celebration. These results suggest acute white matter damage to the fornix and corpus callosum following an extreme drinking episode, which is especially problematic during continued neurodevelopment. Twenty-first birthday drinking may, therefore, be considered an important target event for preventing acute brain injury in young adults.

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Cómo citar (APA 7)

Boness, C. L., Korucuoglu, O., Ellingson, J. M., Merrill, A. M., McDowell, Y. E., Trela, C. J., Sher, K. J., Piasecki, T. M., & Kerns, J. G. (2019). Twenty-First Birthday Drinking: Extreme Drinking Episodes and White Matter Microstructural Changes in the Fornix and Corpus Callosum. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/c8tyv