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Binge drinking impairs university students’ brain function

Students who binge drink experience a “deficiency” determining relevant and irrelevant information when sober

A new study shows that binge drinkers need an additional effort to complete a given task, and have a deficiency determining relevant and irrelevant information. The study, conduced by Spanish researchers, also said that sporadic consumption causes greater damage than consuming similar amounts of alcohol at a constant, moderate pace (i.e. over the span of a week versus all in one or two nights). Compared to their peers, university binge drinkers “required greater attentional processing during the task in order to carry it out correctly,” says Alberto Crego, an author of the study. It was also found that university binge drinkers experience memory deficits that are traditionally exhibited by chronic alcoholics. “These results collectively suggest that impaired brain function may occur at an early age in binge drinkers during attentional and working memory processing,” says Credo.

Science Daily

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