Early adult drinking linked to middle-age cognitive decline—even after extended abstinence

It's well known that alcohol consumption is an age-old method for coping with stress. But recent research led by the University of Massachusetts Amherst has found that when such self-medication begins in early adulthood, negative cognitive effects start to show up in middle age—even after long periods of total abstinence. The study is published in the journal Alcohol, Clinical and Experimental Research.