The ABCD Study of Neurodevelopment: Identifying Neurocircuit Targets for Prevention and Treatment of Adolescent Substance Abuse

This study will provide a rich open-access dataset on longitudinal interactions of neurodevelopment, environmental exposures, and childhood psychopathology that confer addiction risk. The ABCD twin study will further clarify genetic versus experiential influences (e .g., substance use) on neurodevelopmental and psychosocial outcomes. Neurocircuitry thought to regulate mood and behavior has been directly normalized by administration of psychoactive medications and by cognitive therapies in adults. Because of this, we contend that ABCD project data will be a cruc ial resource for prevention and treatment of SUD in adolescence because its cutting-edge neuroimaging and childhood assessments hold potential for discovery of additional targetable brain differences earlier in development that are prognostic of (or aberrant in) SUD. The ABCD sample size will also h ave the power to illuminate how sex differences, environmental interactions, and other individual differences interact with neurodevelopment to inform treatment in different groups of adolescents.
Source: Current Treatment Options in Psychiatry - Category: Psychiatry Source Type: research