Early onset adolescent binge drinking is associated with reduced white matter integrity in post-9/11 adult veterans

Adolescence represents a critical period of neural development during which binge drinking (BD) is prevalent. Though prior work has shown that white matter (WM) integrity is susceptible to damage from excessive alcohol intake in adults, the effect of early adolescent BD on WM health in adulthood remains unknown.
Veterans with a history of BD onset before age 15 and after age 15 were studied with diffusion tensor imaging. Group differences in fractional anisotropy (FA; movement of water molecules along the WM) and mean diffusivity (MD; average movement of water molecules) were examined as indices of WM integrity. Lower FA and higher MD are thought to represent degradations in WM integrity. A reference group (RG) of social drinkers with no history of BD was used to provide comparative normative data.
The researchers observed widespread decreased FA and increased MD in early binge drinkers, compared to late binge drinkers, as well as decreased FA in the pars triangularis, lateral orbitofrontal cortex, superior frontal cortex, isthmus cingulate, and genu and splenium of the corpus callosum, early binge drinkers also had lower WM integrity compared to the RG.
Adults who initiated BD during early adolescence demonstrated decreased FA and increased MD throughout the frontostriatal circuits that mediate inhibitory control and thus may result in impulsive behavior and a predisposition for developing alcohol use disorder during adulthood.
Source: Knoff AA, Knight AR, Salat DH, Bedi A, Currao A, Fonda JR, McGlinchey RE, Fortier CB. Early onset adolescent binge drinking is associated with reduced white matter integrity in post-9/11 adult veterans. Alcohol. 2023 Oct 3: agad062.