Partying More Damaging to Girls or Boys?

Can partying be more damaging to girls rather than boys?

Obviously "partying" can be detrimental to both males and females but there have been studies lately that suggest that females that party have more and higher risks than males. The apparent thing that I thought of when I heard this is that females are put at risk of rape or unwanted pregnancy, but as I have learned the risks go a lot further than this. Not only do females risk the possibility of rape or unwanted pregnancy, but they also have many physiological aspects that come into play. Research done at the Duke Medical Center suggests that females metabolize alcohol differently than males. The enzyme that breaks down alcohol works differently in males and females. This causes many different risk factors for females. They can get the same effects of alcohol with a smaller amount and in a shorter period of time than a male will get with a larger amount and a longer time period. Women also experience more impairment of cognitive function and judgment as well as experiencing more severe hangovers. "Body rot", a term that is used to describe the deterioration of the body due to using drugs or alcohol, occurs more rapidly in females. Women's brains, livers and other body parts become damaged quicker than a male's. A study showed that girls with shorter histories of drinking than their male counter parts experienced more memory loss and had more difficulty reading maps, solving puzzles and comprehending lectures or instructions. Brain function declines quicker in females due to the rapid loss of brain tissue and cells. As women experience more severe affects of alcohol than men, adolescent girls experience it worse than those that are over 21 years old, which is when the brain stops developing. Women can develop eating disorders, depression, stroke, cirrhosis of the liver and damage to the heart quicker from alcohol.

Is your teen involved with Alcohol or Drugs? Need help?

Neuroplasticity: A new perspective in neuroscience

Neuroplasticity: A new perspective in neuroscience

I recently had the opportunity to attend a special neuroscience lecture at UCLA. The focus of this lecture involved an exciting and developing mind-brain science called Neuroplasticity. This new science offers a look at the potential we as individuals have to influence the functioning of our physical brain through awareness and mindful choices.

According to the old scientific paradigm in neuroscience, the human brain is much like the hardware of a computer. It is viewed as a material system hardwired with biologically predetermined neural circuitry or pathways that produce our behavior. This old thinking in neuroscience also asserts that whatever one might call the immaterial consciousness or "mind"—and all its manifestations, such as awareness and choice—is produced by, and ultimately reduced to the physical brain. The critics of this kind of older neuroscience have labeled such a conception as "monism", "reductionism" and "materialism."

Neuroplasticity as a new kind of neuroscience does not suggest that the mind and the brain are completely separate entities, and it is true that certain behaviors and experiences can be explained in large measure by the physical brain. For example, individuals may have genetic, biologically predisposed brain chemistry which can increase the likelihood of mental disorders or addiction. Rather, what this new science suggests is that there is a kind interactional dualism between the mind and the brain. The brain and its functioning can certainly affect the mind and what we experience. However, pioneering research done at UCLA using Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scans has shown that when we focus our attention on positive, constructive ideas and behaviors, a "re-wiring" effect happens in the physical brain. During this re-wiring effect, brain tissue that was previously dedicated to other maladaptive tasks is incorporated in new wholesome endeavors

The UCLA research shows that re-focusing our attention onto constructive tasks and healthy behaviors can have dramatic effects. Neuroplasticity has important implications for those suffering from addiction and substance abuse as it suggests that an individual's commitment to recovery and the 12-Steps can have a profound impact on the physical brain. In working a 12-step program for adolescents or aadults and attending meetings, recovering individuals are in a very real sense shaping their brains in the direction of recovery.



-Adam Echols