Underage Drinking and the Brain
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Their first job, first car, first date—the teenage years are a time of growing independence and responsibility. But despite their newfound maturity, your child’s physiological development is still underway, with the brain continuing to develop until around age 25.
Alcohol and Youth Brain Development: Why It Matters
Teens and alcohol don’t mix—and not just because of the short-term risks like car crashes and DUIs. In adolescents and young adults, the effects of drinking can linger long after the buzz wears off. That’s because alcohol can cause actual changes in their brain development.
Critical areas of the brain can become damaged, thinned, or reduced in size, and this can have life-long impacts on your child’s memory, attention span, emotions, and learning abilities.
How Alcohol Impairs Learning & Memory in Teens
The short-term effects of alcohol are well-known: a person’s speech becomes slurred, their thinking becomes slower, and they may take on an entirely different personality as their inhibitions break down. In the morning, they may have gaps in their memory; they may not remember anything at all about the previous night. These symptoms are commonly referred to as "blacking out" and often affect young people who are binge drinking.
The Jekyll-and-Hyde effect is truly frightening—but it’s even scarier to consider the long-term consequences. Alcohol can damage the brain in two crucial areas:
- The prefrontal lobe, which controls decision-making and impulse control. Alcohol acts as a depressant on this area of the brain, slowing down its activity and eventually hindering its development altogether.
- The hippocampus, which is involved in learning and memory. Alcohol interferes with this region’s ability to store new information, making it harder for young people to learn new words and retain the things they’re taught in school. The hippocampus has been found to be 10% smaller in the brains of underage drinkers—and that’s a lifelong effect.
When these two regions of the brain have been damaged, your teen may never be able to “catch back up” to his or her peers—the changes to the brain’s structures are irreversible. Because of this, alcohol is commonly linked to a decline in academic performance and an increase in school absences among underage drinkers.
Good Times Not Guaranteed: Alcohol & Teens’ Mental Health
After a drink or two, a person may become chatty and more animated; even the shyest person might suddenly transform into a social butterfly. But alcohol is not a stimulant; this effect is the result of a depressant acting on the region of the brain in charge of controlling inhibitions! Still, alcohol is commonly depicted in the media as a shortcut to relaxation and having a good time. This is one of the most common—and most dangerous—myths about underage drinking and the brain.
Repeated drinking means repeated disruptions to brain functions and processes. Over time, this takes a heavy toll on the developing brain. Stress can become harder to manage, and mental health conditions like depression may become exacerbated. Even without any preexisting conditions, youth who drink develop an increased risk of depression and anxiety. High school students who drink are twice as likely to seriously consider suicide, and four times more likely to make a suicide attempt.
Wired for Addiction
The presence of alcohol causes the brain to increase production of dopamine—a chemical in the brain that’s responsible for feelings of pleasure. However, adolescents and teens quickly adapt to this increased level, so it will take increasing amounts of alcohol to feel the same level of “reward.” In this way, the developing brain becomes wired for addiction, both now and later in life.
Unfortunately, the earlier a person begins drinking, the more likely they are to develop a serious addiction problem at some point. This risk for addiction goes beyond alcohol—among those who start drinking before age 15, more than 67% will go on to try an illicit drug.
What Can Parents Do?
Remember that teen brains are wired to explore—they find excitement in new experiences. It’s natural for them to be tempted, and it’s probable that they’ll make a few mistakes along the way. As a parent, the best thing you can do is to start talking about this important topic early on, and talk about it often! Even if it seems like your children aren’t listening, parental disapproval ranks among the top reasons that teens choose not to drink. So keep talking: explain the risks, set your rules and expectations, and tell them how you feel.
Beyond this, you should never provide alcohol to your teens or their friends, even in your own home. While the occasional drink may seem harmless, we now know that it can have lasting effects on the developing brain.