by Kathleen Fackelmann

About the author: Kathleen Fackelmann writes on health issues for USA Today magazine.

Teens who drink heavily face a slew of hazards, ranging from accidental injuries to death by alcohol poisoning. If early research is verified, scientists might add another danger to that list soon: brain damage.

Preliminary studies indicate that heavy, regular drinking can damage the developing brains of teens and young adults and perhaps destroy brain cells involved in learning and memory.

Recent scientific findings represent the first brush strokes of an emerging portrait of alcohol’s impact on the young brain:

•Brain scans of teenagers who have abused alcohol suggest damage to the hippocampus, the region involved in learning and memory. On average, the young drinkers had a 10% smaller hippocampus than their peers, one study shows...