Alcohol in excess has lasting effects on brain, study says

Excessive alcohol use has lasting effects on the brain according to a new study.

Researchers found that excessive alcohol consumption while young had effects on memory, brain size and learning later in life.

"In young alcohol misusers, these preventable and potentially reversible deficits may be progressive but if left unresolved such deficits eventually become major contributors to poor outcome (long term) and hamper adherence to treatment," the researchers wrote in the study, said South Asia Mail.

The study reviewed findings from other studies on alcohol use between the ages of 13 and 24.

They found that those who misused alcohol were more likely to show signs of brain damage than those who did not, said Medical News Today.

More from GlobalPost: Burger King caught in horse meat scandal

Interestingly, the researchers noted that drinking age laws make no difference nor do they change the age of first alcohol use.

They noted that teens consume alcohol for the first time at the same age in both Australia and the US despite the three-year legal drinking age difference.

The researchers said that binge drinking accounts for four percent of disease worldwide.

The findings were published in the journal Cortex.