Binge drinking in your youth may have ruined your brain, say scientists

Were your teenage years a blur of wild nights downing cheap cider behind a skip and passing out in the local park?

Did your Friday nights consist of swilling down vodka from the bottle until you vomited through your nose? Can you even remember being a teenager? Can you recollect anything at all from the Jagermeister-soaked haze that was your 20s? If not, there could be a very good reason. Scientists have found that this Great British booze bingeing past-time among adolescents is pretty much f**king up our brains. A study in the journal of Alcoholism: Clinical & Expermental Research found that repeatedly drinking alcohol as a juvenile has an effect on learning and memory. It's because the brain isn't fully formed until your late 20s. Your late f**king 20s!  So sticking 3 litres of sh*t cider through your system every week since the age of 14 isn't going to be great. Basically, scientists fed some young rats alcohol, while some were teetotal. The booze rats turned out to be far dumber than their drink-free counterparts. The worse part was that repeated exposure to alcohol meant the rodents' brain synapses were saturated and they became incapable of learning and their memory and cognitive function were seriously impaired. Basically living fast and drinking hard through your teens and 20s leaves you with permanent brain damage. Somebody better get us a drink.