I can't drink what I used to: The interaction between ethanol and the aging brain

Publication date: Available online 15 October 2019Source: International Review of NeurobiologyAuthor(s): Douglas B. Matthews, Amelia Schneider, Abigail Kastner, Samantha Scaletty, Rachel SzenayAbstractThe population of most countries is increasing and the United Nations predicts that by the year 2050 those over the age of 60 years old will increase from 900 million individuals to approximately 2.1 billion individuals (United Nations, 2015). The increase in the number of older individuals will place a strain on many national health care systems making it important to investigate behaviors in the aged that may negatively impact general health in this demographic. Recent work has shown that older adults consume alcohol, often at levels that exceed the legal limit of intoxication. Unfortunately, consumption of high levels of ethanol in the older population is associated with many health consequences and may negatively impact the brain. Given ethical constraints found in many biomedical studies, animal models are needed to investigate the possible negative impact of high ethanol use in aged populations. However, few studies have investigated the effect of ethanol exposure in aged animals compared to ethanol exposure in younger animals and consequently the impact of ethanol in the aged population is not well understood.The current review summarizes initial work establishing the impact of ethanol in aged animals. The reviewed research studies support the working hypothesis that etha...
Source: International Review of Neurobiology - Category: Neuroscience Source Type: research