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Researchers studying altered brain development in adolescent drinkers have not tested dose effects because study designs did not include a moderate-intake group. These investigators analyzed data from a multisite 2-year magnetic resonance imaging study involving 483 young people (baseline age range, 12–21; 50% males).
At baseline, all participants were nondrinkers or low drinkers; at follow-up, 65 had become moderate drinkers, and 62 had become heavy drinkers. From baseline to 2-year follow-up, heavy users had accelerated decreases in gray matter and slower increases in white matter, compared with the trajectories in no/low drinkers. In analyses controlling for sex, age, sex-by-age interactions, and multiple comparisons, gray-matter decrease…