Adolescent Alcohol Consumption, Stress, and the Developing Brain
Open Access
- Author:
- Starnes, William
- Area of Honors:
- Biology
- Degree:
- Bachelor of Science
- Document Type:
- Thesis
- Thesis Supervisors:
- Nikki Crowley, Thesis Supervisor
Stephen Wade Schaeffer, Thesis Honors Advisor - Keywords:
- Somatostatin
adolescence
Drinking in the Dark - Abstract:
- Adolescence is a critical phase of brain development with significant cognitive and behavioral changes. Throughout the time period of adolescence, a multitude of changes in brain composition and cortical rewiring take place. As a result, adolescents are found to be more susceptible to ethanol during this time period especially during periods of significant ethanol consumption known as binge drinking. Binge drinking is defined as a BAC to above 0.08 g/dL due to repeated drinking episodes typically reached within a two-hour period. More specifically, binge drinking, and stress have both been known to alter the development and typical function of neurotransmitter circuits. Binge drinking during adolescence has also been labeled a major public health issue with global estimates of over 14% of individuals from the age of 15-18 drinking enough to reach binge levels over the past month (Chung et al., 2018). Not only is this drinking pattern prevalent in individuals ages 15-18, but 9.6% of individuals ages 12 to 17 reflected alcohol use in the past month with roughly half of those individuals’ reporting periods of binge drinking (Kann et al., 2023). In fact, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, individuals ages 14-20 are more likely to binge drink (Underage Drinking | National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), n.d.). Additionally, alcohol leads to deficits within educational attainment, and has been implicated in later development of alcohol use disorder. Not only has alcohol been known to make significant behavioral and cognitive changes during adolescence, but stress can also alter neuronal development, leading to compounding effects. Similar to ethanol consumption, anxiety disorders are also extremely prevalent in adolescents with an estimated 31.9% of 13-18 years olds suffering from an anxiety disorder characterized by consistent anxiety and fear for 6 months or more (Merikangas et al., 2010). Therefore, this project investigated the effects of ethanol consumption and stress on cortical circuit development, brain structure, and behavior as well as the interplay between stress and ethanol consumption. Specifically, of particular interest is the prefrontal cortex (PFC) as this brain region is one of the last to develop and plays an important role in executive functioning. This project was divided into 3 parts 1) Cell count experiments to measure for alterations in brain structure, 2) Electrophysiological experiments to measure changes in neural circuitry in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) 3) Behavioral experiments to measure alterations in anxiety-like and drinking behavior as a result of ethanol consumption.