While several decades of research with adults have shown that chronic heavy drinking is associated with adverse consequences on the adult brain 1, this relationship has only recently been explored in the adolescent brain. Understanding the effects of alcohol and drug use on adolescent neurocognition is crucial, being that rates of use increase dramatically between ages 12 and 18. Epidemiological studies have shown that past month alcohol use increases from 17% to 45% between 8th and 12th grade, and illicit drug use prevalence expands from 8% to 22%. Lifetime rates indicate that 73% of youth have used alcohol and 48% have used illicit drugs by their senior year of high school 2. In the past year, 23% of youth meet diagnostic criteria for a substance use disorder (alcohol or drug abuse or dependence) by age 20 3.
