Alcohol consumption during adolescence is frequent and often involves heavy drinking patterns such as binge drinking (Johnston, O’Malley, Bachman and Schulenberg, 2006). High rates of alcohol consumption have been reported for human (Bates and Labouvie, 1997) and rodent adolescents in comparison to adults (Doremus et al., 2005). Normal development of neuronal pathways may be disturbed by alcohol consumption during adolescence, consequently altering subsequent adult brain functioning. Therefore, it is important to understand how the adolescent brain develops and also the impact of early alcohol exposure on adult behavior and brain functioning.
