Binge drinking may lower the brain’s ability to absorb new information even while sober, especially in young people, according to a new study published in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research.
Researchers at the Universidade de Santiago de Compostela in Spain recruited 122 university students between the ages of 18 and 20. The participants were divided into two groups: those who indulged in binge drinking – the sporadic, excessive consumption of alcohol – and those who did not. The students were then tested on their ability to recall information given to them verbally.
"Our main finding was a clear association between binge drinking and a lower ability to learn new verbal information in healthy college students, even after controlling for other possible confounding variables such as intellectual levels, history of neurological or psychopathological disorders, other drug use, or family history of alcoholism," concluded lead author Dr. Maria Parada.
Researchers believe the loss of ability could be related to the damage alcohol does to the hippocampus, a part of the brain essential to learning and memory.