Binge Drinking in the Adolescent and Young Brain

Binge drinking (BD) is a highly prevalent pattern in most Western countries characterized by the intake of large amounts of alcohol in a short time followed by periods of abstinence. This abusive form of alcohol consumption is a regular practice in around a third of European and American youths. The high prevalence of BD at this age is of particular concern since adolescence and youth are in a period of special vulnerability to neurotoxic effects of alcohol, mainly due to the structural and functional changes going on in the brain throughout this key developmental stage. Evidence gathered during the last decade from animal and human studies seems to point to multiple brain anomalies associated with BD. In this Research Topic, we have collated a compendium of articles that address multiple aspects of BD during adolescence and young adulthood such as identification, prevalence, gender differences and neurocognitive anomalies associated with this excessive alcohol consumption pattern. These articles collectively highlight the breadth of current research conducted in this field but also the need to join efforts to improve the screening of the BD pattern, the characterization of its consequences as well as the translation of knowledge acquired in the laboratory into clinical practice. We remain confident that this Research Topic will contribute significantly to the understanding of BD and its consequences and will further stimulate high-quality investigation in this relatively new research field.