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Researchers modeling alcohol consumption in adolescents with the help of rats discovered that a drug used to treat Alzheimer's disease could reverse some of the negative effects of eating alcohol. Alcohol in adolescence.
Universities at Duke University in the United States used rats as a model for teens and young adults who drink excessively several times a week.
Once in adulthood, rats received donepezil, which appeared to reduce brain inflammation caused by their previous exposure to alcohol and their ability to produce new neuronal cells .
Scott Swartzwelder, professor of psychiatry at Duke University, said, "Research has begun to show that human adolescents who drink early and regularly throughout their teenage years have brain function deficits that can affect their learning. and memory, as well as social and anxious behaviors. .
"Changes can be subtle, but who wants even subtle deficits in their brain function or how they think and feel?"
The study is expected to better understand the high alcohol consumption among young adults, he added.
Rats were used in place of young people because of the ethical problems surrounding giving them alcohol.
After four days of treatment with the drug, the researchers studied the animals' brains and looked closely at the hippocampus region, which plays a key role in memory.
Professor Swartzwelder said: "It is obvious that all those who drink in adolescence do not grow up and do not miss out completely.
"You may not notice the deficits obviously every day, but you run the risk of losing your advantage.
"Sometimes a small impairment of brain function can have a significant training effect in someone's life."
The research could help develop an understanding of the cellular mechanisms that make the developing brain vulnerable to substances such as alcohol, he added.
– Press Association
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