Binge-drinking teens risk permanent brain damage: Study

Consuming a very high amount of alcohol in a short time can cause irreversible brain damage in teenagers, a study has found.

And in the long run youngsters risk becoming absent-minded and forgetful, say scientists.

According to study's boffins, excess alcohol can actually destroy grey matter called the hippocampus, which stores and recalls events and forms mental images, known as spatial reasoning, reports The Daily Express.

To reach the conclusion, a US team gave alcohol for one hour a day to teenage macaque monkeys, who drank until they were drunk.

Their brains produced fewer cells and suffered more neural degeneration than a control group.