Working memory over a six-year period in young binge drinkers.

Adolescence and early adulthood are periods of particular vulnerability to the neurotoxic effects of alcohol. Young people with alcohol-use disorders display deficits in working memory (WM). This function is supported by the prefrontal cortex, a late-maturing brain region. However, little is known about the progression of cognitive dysfunctions associated with a binge-drinking (BD) pattern of alcohol consumption among non-clinical adolescents. The objective of this study was to analyze the relationship between BD trajectory and WM in university students. An initial sample of 155 male and female first-year university students was followed prospectively over 6 years. The participants were classified as stable non-BDs, stable BDs, and ex-BDs, according to the third item of the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT). WM was assessed using the Self-Ordered Pointing Task. Generalized linear mixed models were applied. The results showed that stable BDs committed more total perseverative errors and showed a lower WM span in the difficult blocks than stable non-BDs. Difficulties in WM span showed some improvement, whereas perseveration errors remained constant throughout the follow-ups in the stable BDs. There were no significant differences between ex-BDs and non-BDs. In conclusion, stable BD is associated with WM deficits, particularly perseverations and low WM span in demanding trials, when compensatory mechanisms may no longer be successful. The partial improvement in WM span may support the notion of a neuromaturational delay, whereas the temporal stability of perseveration deficits may reflect either neurotoxic effects of alcohol or premorbid characteristics. Abandoning the BD pattern of alcohol consumption may lead to partial recovery.

Exploratory Analysis of Power Spectrum and Functional Connectivity During Resting State in Young Binge Drinkers: A MEG Study.

Binge Drinking (BD) is a pattern of intermittent intensive alcohol intake which has spread among young adults over the last decades. Adolescence constitutes a critical neuromaturation period in which the brain is particularly sensitive to the effects of alcohol. However, little is known about how BD affects the brain activity. This study aimed to characterize the brain's functional organization in BD and non-BD young population by means of analyzing functional connectivity (FC) and relative power spectra (PS) profiles measured with magnetoencephalography (MEG) during eyes-closed resting state. Our sample composed 73 first-year university students (35 BDs and 38 controls). Results showed that the BD subjects displayed a decreased alpha FC in frontal-parietal regions, and conversely, an enhanced FC in the delta, theta and beta bands in fronto-temporal networks. Besides the FC differences, the BD group showed a decreased PS within alpha range and an increased PS within theta range in the brain's occipital region. These differences in FC and PS measurements provide new evidence of the neurophysiological alterations related to the alcohol neurotoxicity and could represent an initial sign of an anomalous neural activity caused by a BD pattern of alcohol consumption during youth.