Rats, and presumably humans, are most susceptible to alcohol-related damage during a growth spurt when developing brain cells are building the connections needed for memory, learning and thought. The study indicates that rats, and presumably humans, are most susceptible to alcohol - related neurological damage during this growth spurt when developing brain cells are furiously building the connections needed for memory, learning and thought. In humans, this brain growth spurt starts in the sixth month of gestation. In rats, it comes in the two weeks after birth. The scientists gave the rats ethanol during the growth spurt.
Ethanol is the type of alcohol in beer, wine and spirits.
They discovered that exposure to alcohol blocks a key neurochemical called glutamate, whose job it is to regulate the activity of cells in the central nervous system. When cells don't receive this signal, they send out a warning that something is wrong and trip a biochemical switch that sends cells into suicide mode. This is the body's way of eliminating surplus cells. A single prolonged episode of alcohol exposure that lasts four hours or more is enough to kill millions of brain cells. A single prolonged episode of alcohol exposure that lasts four hours or more is enough to kill millions of brain cells during this growth spurt, according to Olney.