In another study by our lab 53, young adults who had engaged in four to five years of heavy drinking showed poorer performance on the same SWM task during fMRI, in addition to decreased activation in parietal and frontal regions. Together, these results suggest that the adolescent brain may be able to compensate for subtle neural abnormalities associated with drinking; however, repeated heavy drinking episodes may interfere with the brain’s ability to make up for alcohol-related deficiencies in neural functioning.
