Minecraft Test Shows Beer Bad For Young Brain

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Undergrads Amentha Rajagobal and Maya Sengupta-Murray have found that alcohol can have a significant impact on the developing brain - specifically the hippocampus, responsible for spatial navigation and memory formation.



While it is well-known that alcohol can affect brain function in adults for some time, less is known about its effects on young brains.



The students recruited undergraduate participants to answer questions about their alcohol consumption.



They then asked the subjects to play a game in which they had to remember where objects were found in the world of Minecraft.



Researchers discovered that people who started drinking earlier in their lives had more difficulty remembering where objects were located than those who started later in their lives.



Rajagobal says that the frontal lobes and the hippocampus continue to develop into our twenties. "They continue growing and changing in ways that the rest of our brain doesn't, so they are more vulnerable to damage from things such as drinking at an early age."



However, such damage can cause problems beyond just the ability to navigate in a video game or down the street.



"The hippocampus is used to form memories," says Sengupta-Murray. Let's say that you have a dog. You can smell it, hear it, and feel it. The hippocampus is responsible for connecting all of these sensations to form the memories of your dog. Just Another Wordpress Site