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Description
Adolescence is a time of considerable neurodevelopment and increased substance use. Alcohol remains among the most commonly used intoxicants during adolescence with 21% of high school students having consumed 5 or more drinks on one occasion in the last 30 days. Neuropsychological and neuroimaging studies have shown that binge drinking during adolescence may provoke deleterious neurocognitive effects in the domains of learning, memory, visuospatial skills, working memory, and executive functions. Longitudinal studies have found that these deficits in cognitive functioning may remit with abstinence in both adults and adolescents, yet few studies have examined if adverse neurocognitive sequelae abate after individuals modestly decrease their hazardous drinking patterns. The objective of this study was to determine if a reduction in frequency of binge drinking episodes corresponds to improved neurocognitive functioning on tasks of memory, attention, visuospatial skills, and executive functioning. Analyses were conducted on participants in a large longitudinal study with neuropsychological tests completed at two or more time points (T1 & T2) after the age 18 (N=68), representing a range of drinking levels and change with time. Multiple regression analyses showed no significant predicted relationships between a change in binge drinking episodes and change in neuropsychological test variables. However, a post-hoc examination of heavier drinkers (N=36) showed trends of recovered performance on memory, attention, and executive functioning tasks in those who reduced drinking. Neuropsychological deficits of heavy drinkers may dissipate with a moderate decrease in hazardous drinking episodes. This study was supported in part by NIAAA grant R01 AA013419 (PI: Tapert)
