Megan Anderson, a graduate student in the department of neuroscience and cell biology and lead author of the study, reportedly said, 'Moderate drinking can become binge drinking without the person realising it. In the short term there may not be any noticeable motor skills or overall functioning problems, but in the long term this type of behaviour could have an adverse effect on learning and memory.'
Working with Tracey Shors, Professor in Behavioral and Systems Neuroscience in the Department of Psychology, she used rats to duplicate moderate to heavy drinking in human beings. Creating blood alcohol level of 0.08 per cent in the rats, the legal driving limit in the US and several countries, the researchers found that this disrupted the production of brain cells. She also reported that moderate to binge drinking- less intake during the week and more on the weekends, significantly reduces the structural integrity of the adult brain.
Although this level of alcohol intake was not enough to impair the motor skills of the rats or prevent them from associative learning in the short-term, the number of nerve cells in the brain were reduced by nearly 40 percent compared to those in the non drinking group of rats.
‘This research indicates that social or daily drinking may be more harmful to brain health than what is now believed by the people,’ she concludes. The study is available online and will be published in the Neuroscience journal on November 8.
The study is not peer evaluated and it would be interesting to read the reaction. It might be worth mentioning that the studies done so far have generally been conducted on human beings and are based on the actual data collected from significant numbers in a group and the results collated. There can be a thin line between moderate and binge drinking. That’s why delWine recommends two glasses for men and one glass for women daily, preferably red -editor |