Recently, the development of brain functions, the cognitive capabilities of adolescents, and the effect of alcohol abuse on brain maturation have been examined.49,50 Cognitive differences between adolescents and adults suggest that the adultification of youths is deleterious for youths whose brains have not fully matured. Adolescence is the time during which most individuals first experience alcohol exposure, and binge drinking is very common during this period.29,50,43 There is increasing evidence for long-lasting neurophysiological changes that may occur following exposure to ethanol during adolescence in animal models.50 If alcohol exposure is neurotoxic to the developing brain during adolescence, then understanding how ethanol affects the developing adolescent brain becomes a major public health issue. Adolescence is a critical time period when cognitive, emotional, and social maturation occurs and it is likely that ethanol exposure may affect these complex processes. During a period that corresponds to adolescence in rats, the relatively brief exposure to high levels of alcohol via ethanol vapors caused long-lasting changes in functional brain activity.51 The following observations were recorded: disturbances in waking electroencephalography; a reduction in the P3 wave
