Drinking a couple of glasses of wine each day has generally been considered a good way to promote cardiovascular and brain health. But a new Rutgers University study indicates that there is a fine line between moderate and binge drinking a risky behavior that can decrease the making of adult brain cells by as much as 40 percent.
In a study posted online in the journal Neuroscience, scheduled to be published on November 8, lead author Megan Anderson, a graduate student working with Dr. Tracey J. Shors, Professor II in Behavioral and Systems Neuroscience in the Department of Psychology at Rutgers, reported that moderate to binge drinking drinking less during the week and more on the weekends significantly reduces the structural integrity of the adult brain.
"Moderate drinking can become binge drinking without the person realizing it," said Anderson. "In the short term there may not be any noticeable motor skills or overall functioning problems, but in the long term this type of behavior could have an adverse effect on learning and memory."
Shors and Anderson worked with postdoctoral fellow Miriam Nokia from the University of Jyvaskyla in Finland to model moderate to heavy drinking in humans the rodents voluntarily reaching a blood alcohol level of 0.08 percent, the legal driving limit in the United States and many other countries brain cell production was affected negatively.
The researchers discovered that at this level of intoxication in rats comparable to about 3-4 drinks for women and five drinks for men the number of nerve cells in the hippocampus of the brain were reduced by nearly 40 percent compared to those in the abstinent group of rodents. The hippocampus is a part of the brain where the new neurons are made and is also known to be necessary for some types of new learning.
This level of alcohol intake was not enough to impair the motor skills of either male or female rats or prevent them from associative learning
'/>"/>
| Contact: Robin Lally rlally@ur.rutgers.edu 732-932-7084 x652 Rutgers University Source:Eurekalert |
Related biology news :
1. Researchers report potential for a moderate New England red tide in 2012
2. Moderate coffee consumption offers protection against heart failure
3. Mechanisms for a beneficial effect of moderate alcohol consumption on osteoporosis in women
4. Chief of Naval Research moderates panel at Unmanned Systems Conference
5. Women could play key role in correcting crisis in clean drinking water and sanitation crisis
6. Prenatal micronutrient, food supplementation intervention in Bangladesh decreases child death rate
7. NOAA: Underwater noise decreases whale communications in Stellwagen Bank sanctuary
8. Common antifungal drug decreases tumor growth and shows promise as cancer therapy
9. UGA study finds theres not always safety in numbers when it comes to extinction risk
10. Fighting bacterias strength in numbers
11. New report puts real numbers behind history of oyster reefs
| Copyright © 2003-2012 Bio-Medicine. All rights reserved. ABOUT | CONTACT US | DISCLAIMER | PRIVACY POLICY | TERMS AND CONDITIONS |  |