The brains of chronically heavy drinkers have twice the
capacity of those of light drinkers to consume a chemical that may add to
impairment and some other effects of alcohol, Yale School of Medicine
researchers have found. This added capacity may also increase the vulnerability
to alcohol dependence, according to the study, which appears in the Journal of
Clinical Investigation.
Researchers studied 14 drinkers. Half of them were what
would be considered heavy drinkers, many of them “binge drinkers.” They
regularly consumed at least eight drinks a week, and at least four drinks on
one of those days. The rest were light drinkers, who consumed less than two
drinks per week.