Lasting changes in the brain caused by drinking that starts in adolescence are the result of epigenetic changes that alter the expression of a protein crucial for the formation and maintenance of neural connections in the amygdala - the part of the brain involved in emotion, fear and anxiety.
Lead exposure in childhood appears to have long-lasting negative effects on mental health and personality in adulthood, according to a study of people who grew up in the era of leaded petrol.
Researchers from the University of Oxford, in collaboration with researchers from Canada and the Universities of Bristol and London, have used advanced magnetic resonance imaging to investigate whether factors such as blood pressure, fitness, smoking and alcohol intake during young adult life are associated with changes in the blood vessels inside the brain.
Between 2006 and 2012 consumption of energy drinks in the UK increased by 12.8% – from 235m to 475m litres.
A child's health can be compromised not only by a mother who smokes or drinks during pregnancy, but by the obesity and poor diet of both parents well before the child is conceived, researchers say.
A child's growth and development is affected by the health and lifestyles of their parents before pregnancy -- even going back to adolescence -- according to a new paper.
Parents, educators, and therapists should consider insomnia to be a risk marker for alcohol use.
Although drinking by U.S. adolescents has decreased during the last decade, more than 20 percent of U.S. high-school students continue to drink alcohol before the age of 14 years. This can have adverse effects on their neurodevelopment.
Researchers have studied the brain activity of young binge-drinking college students in Spain, and found distinctive changes in brain activity, which may indicate delayed brain development and be an early sign of brain damage.
It's addictive and toxic, like a drug, and we need to wean ourselves off it, says US doctor
Academy of Medical Royal Colleges puts forward 10-point action plan to help end UK's status as 'fat man of Europe'
News review by Deborah Brauser