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We all know that drinking can cloud judgment¹. That’s why you should never e-mail an ex after you’ve had a few. But for teenagers, doing dumb things now because of alcohol may be just the start. Because research with animals suggests that drinking during adolescence² can set you up for a whole lifetime of bad decisions. The study is in the Proceedings³ of the National Academy of Sciences.

People who abuse alcohol when they’re young don’t always make good choices as adults. But it’s been unclear whether the drink gives them the stupids, or whether folks prone⁴ to poor choices are predisposed to drink.

One way to tackle the question is by studying alcohol intake⁵ in animals, like rats. But rats don’t like to drink. So to make the alcohol more palatable⁶, scientists infused it into a tasty “gel matrix”. Yes, the researchers gave teenage rats Jello⁷ shots. And the animals’ decision-making ability stayed impaired⁸ well into adulthood…as measured by their tendency to chase after rewards with associated high risk rather than taking a sure thing. So, young party animals, remember the words of Faber’s Dean Wormer: “Drunk and stupid is no way to go through life, son.”