Save Brains is a campaign designed to educate youth and parents about alcohol’s effects on the developing adolescent brain. A significant amount of research shows a link between youth alcohol use and the damaging impact it has on brain development.
Click on the boxes below to learn how alcohol affects various parts of the brain.
Click here to download our Save Brains brochure in Spanish.
Central Nervous System
The body’s “control center” that regulates motor function, thinking and reasoning.
Responsible for higher cognitive functions like judgment, behavior and emotion.
Prefrontal Cortex & Ventral Striatum
Essential pieces of the brain’s reward system that regulate impulsive behavior.
Responsible for storage of long-term memories and helps with spatial navigation.
Coordinates motor output, which regulates movement, balance and posture.
Controls autonomous nervous system, influencing sleeping, eating and body temperature.
Regulates heart rate, blood pressure, breathing and some reflexes.
Reticular Activating System
Plays role in sleeping and waking, breathing, heart function and behavioral function.
References for information obtained to support Save Brains campaign.