Summary: Moderate Alcohol Consumption Shrinks Brain By: Maryann Marshall • Framingham Study show that moderate to heavy alcohol use is associated with damage to brain tissue. •
The Framingham Study began in 1948 to follow the residents of Framingham, Massachusetts and their offspring.
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Researchers performed MRI scans on 1,839 people aged 34 to 88 to compare the volume of brain tissue to their cranial size.
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Subjects were classified as non-drinkers, former drinkers, low drinkers (1 to 7 drinks per week), moderate drinkers (8 to 14 drinks per week), or high drinkers (more than 14 drinks per week).
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Brain shrinkage numbers increased by .25 percent as amount and frequency of drinking increased.
Definition: Brain tissue: The human brain has the same general structure as the brains of other mammals, but is larger than any other in relation to body size. MRI scan: Magnetic resonance imaging, nuclear magnetic resonance imaging, or magnetic resonance tomography is a medical imaging technique used in radiology to visualize internal structures of the body in detail. Brain volume: rain size is one aspect of animal anatomy and evolution. Both overall brain size and the size of substructures have been analyzed, and the
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