SynthesisNeuroImage. Clinical2014
The effect of alcohol consumption on the adolescent brain: A systematic review of MRI and fMRI studies of alcohol-using youth.
Synthesis in NeuroImage. Clinical, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT06634771 (Frontal E/I Balance Mediation of tACS Effects on Behavioral Flexibility), which is not on this map. Cited by 94 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Frontal E/I Balance Mediation of tACS Effects on Behavioral Flexibility
Who cites it
94 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 184 citations in OpenAlex.
- Age-related differences in the effect of chronic alcohol on cognition and the brain: a systematic review.Translational psychiatry · 2022Pooled it
- Predicting alcohol dependence from multi-site brain structural measures.Human brain mapping · 2022Pooled it
- Regulatory Policies for Alcohol, other Psychoactive Substances and Addictive Behaviours: The Role of Level of Use and Potency. A Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2019Pooled it
- Neurobiological and Cognitive Profile of Young Binge Drinkers: a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Neuropsychology review · 2019Pooled it
- Association studies of up to 1.2 million individuals yield new insights into the genetic etiology of tobacco and alcohol use.Nature genetics · 2019Pooled it
- Long-Term RCT outcomes for adolescent alcohol and cannabis use within a predominantly Hispanic sample.Journal of research on adolescence : the official journal of the Society for Research on Adolescence · 2023Trial
- Longitudinal associations between binge drinking and changes in behavioral and neural threat reactivity in youth.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2026Article
- Substance use, recovery capital, and social networks of adolescents recently initiating inpatient treatment.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2026Article
- Low-Level Alcohol Consumption in Children 11-12 Years Old Is Linked to Neural Substrates Involved in Reward Processing and Inhibitory Control: Results From a Brain-Wide Association Study.Alcohol, clinical & experimental research · 2026Article
- Alcohol misuse and negative emotion processing in neurotypical drinkers: Sex differences in behavioral and neural markers.Psychiatry research. Neuroimaging · 2026Article
- Article
- Sex differences in the neuroimmune response following heavy, binge-like alcohol exposure in adolescent rats.Journal of neuroimmunology · 2025Article
- Implementation process evaluation and preliminary effect analysis of an outpatient multidisciplinary follow-up program for adolescents with acute alcohol intoxication in Belgium: the SPIRIT pilot study.Addiction science & clinical practice · 2025Article
- Prevention of alcohol use and promotion of well-being among middle school students: a study protocol for a randomized controlled trial of ADAPT.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Adolescent trauma and alcohol: increased risk for severe head injury and organ dysfunction-insights from the TraumaRegister DGUEuropean journal of trauma and emergency surgery : official publication of the European Trauma Society · 2025Article
- Nationwide Incidence of Acute Alcohol Intoxication in Adolescents in Belgium: A Validation Study of Belgian Health Insurance Data Through Comparison with Retrospective Hospital Chart Data in Antwerp, Belgium.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- The Transition from Childhood to Adolescence: Between Health and Vulnerability.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Associations Between Family History of Alcohol and/or Substance Use Problems and Frontal Cortical Development From 9 to 13 Years of Age: A Longitudinal Analysis of the ABCD Study.Biological psychiatry global open science · 2024Article
- Associations between Adolescent Alcohol Use and Neurocognitive Functioning in Young Adulthood.Applied developmental science · 2024Article
- Prevention of hazardous use of alcohol among high school students: a study protocol for the randomized controlled trial 'Our choice'.BMC public health · 2023Article
34 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundA large proportion of adolescents drink alcohol, with many engaging in high-risk patterns of consumption, including binge drinking. Here, we systematically review and synthesize the existing empirical literature on how consuming alcohol affects the developing human brain in alcohol-using (AU) youth.
methodsFor this systematic review, we began by conducting a literature search using the PubMED database to identify all available peer-reviewed magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies of AU adolescents (aged 19 and under). All studies were screened against a strict set of criteria designed to constrain the impact of confounding factors, such as co-occurring psychiatric conditions.
resultsTwenty-one studies (10 MRI and 11 fMRI) met the criteria for inclusion. A synthesis of the MRI studies suggested that overall, AU youth showed regional differences in brain structure as compared with non-AU youth, with smaller grey matter volumes and lower white matter integrity in relevant brain areas. In terms of fMRI outcomes, despite equivalent task performance between AU and non-AU youth, AU youth showed a broad pattern of lower task-relevant activation, and greater task-irrelevant activation. In addition, a pattern of gender differences was observed for brain structure and function, with particularly striking effects among AU females.
conclusionsAlcohol consumption during adolescence was associated with significant differences in structure and function in the developing human brain. However, this is a nascent field, with several limiting factors (including small sample sizes, cross-sectional designs, presence of confounding factors) within many of the reviewed studies, meaning that results should be interpreted in light of the preliminary state of the field. Future longitudinal and large-scale studies are critical to replicate the existing findings, and to provide a more comprehensive and conclusive picture of the effect of alcohol consumption on the developing brain.
Indexed as
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.