Adolescent Brain Development and Effects of Drug Abuse

描述(由申请人提供)：这项建议的总体目标是(I)使用结构神经成像和神经认知评估来扩展典型发育青少年样本中关于前额叶皮质(PFC)神经发育的研究计划，以及(Ii)在探索性研究中将这一知识应用于年龄匹配的吸入剂滥用者。PFC的主要功能之一是对行为施加控制，以便一个人能够追求未来的目标。当享乐信号与这些目标冲突时，努力控制的要求越来越高。奖励的享乐信号在青春期可能特别强，在PFC成熟之前可能很难克服。我们假设，在情绪挑战的情况下，PFC控制行为的能力仍然在青春期很晚的时候发展，这使得青少年容易受到情绪冲动的影响，其中之一可能是吸毒。现在存在的工具不仅允许我们使用神经认知任务来评估PFC发育的行为轨迹，还可以量化代表大脑结构之间连通性的白质成熟的各个方面。本研究将重点研究前额叶背外侧区与腹内侧区的发育。通过横断面和纵向调查，行为和成像工具将被用来量化使用非药物对照组和滥用吸入性药物的临床参考样本青少年中PFC介导的行为和白质自然的发展。每个样本都将被登记并进行前瞻性跟踪。这一设计允许对正常年龄相关的行为和大脑成熟变化进行横断面检查，通过纵向评估在受试者内验证这些发现，并对吸入性滥用者和对照组的脑发育进行组内和组间比较。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The general goals of this proposal are (i) to use structural neuroimaging and neurocognitive assessments to expand upon a program of research on the neurodevelopment of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) in a sample of typically developing adolescents and (ii) to apply this knowledge to age-matched inhalant abusers in an exploratory study. One of the main functions of the PFC is to exert control over behavior so that a person can pursue future goals. Effortful control is increasingly demanded when hedonic signals conflict with these goals. Hedonic signals of reward may be especially strong during adolescence and may be difficult to overcome prior to PFC maturation. We hypothesize that the PFC's ability to control behavior under emotionally challenging situations is still developing very late in adolescence rendering teens vulnerable to their emotional impulses, one of which may be to engage in drug use. Tools now exist that allow us not only to assess the behavioral trajectory of PFC development using neurocognitive tasks but also to quantify aspects of white matter maturation that represent connectivity across brain structures. This study will focus on the development of the PFC's dorsolateral versus ventromedial regions. Through cross-sectional and longitudinal investigations, behavioral and imaging tools will be used to quantify the development of PFC-mediated behaviors and white matter "naturation in adolescents who are non-drug using controls versus a clinic-referred sample who abuse inhalant drugs. Each sample will be enrolled and prospectively followed. This design permits a cross-sectional examination of normal age-related changes in behavioral and brain maturation, validation of these findings within-subjects through longitudinal assessment, and within-and between-group comparisons of brain development in inhalant abusers versus controls.