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For many students, college involves a lot of socializing at parties and at bars, and alcohol is a common factor in these social environments. Excessive alcohol use, in the form of binge drinking, is extremely common among college students, and one study has estimated that as many as one third of young North Americans and Europeans binge drink. So, what defines binge drinking? The National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism describes a binge as drinking five or more drinks for men and four or more for women within a two-hour period, and for many college students, these limits wouldn't equate to a particularly heavy night. Previous research has linked binge drinking to a variety of negative consequences including neurocognitive deficits, poor academic performance, and risky sexual behavior. While numerous studies have shown that the brains of chronic alcoholics have altered brain activity, there is also evidence that bingeing can change adolescents' brains. Eduardo L...

In the first study of its kind looking at babies outside the United States, researchers from the University of Adelaide's Adelaide Medical School investigated 41 cases of SIDS deaths and discovered striking abnormalities in chemical serotonin within the brain. Serotonin, otherwise known as 5-HT, is a neurotransmitter found in different parts of the human body, including the central nervous system. Among its many roles, serotonin is involved in the regulation of sleep, and also control of the cardiovascular and respiratory systems. This latest research, published in the  Journal of Neuropathology & Experimental Neurology , confirms and supports the concept that brainstem dysfunction, resulting in significantly altered serotonin expression, is associated with some SIDS deaths. SIDS is the sudden unexpected death of an infant under one year of age that cannot be explained after a thorough investigation, including an autopsy. It is the leading cause of death in infants bet...