Neural Correlates of Risk-Taking in Adolescents Exposed to Drugs Prenatally

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Project Summary (abstract) Drug abuse among women of child-bearing age is an enduring public health problem because exposure to drugs during the prenatal period can directly alter the course of fetal development and adversely impact later outcomes. Our research aims to characterize effects of prenatal drug exposure (PDE) on neurobehavioral outcomes in adolescence. Effects of PDE may be especially significant during this developmental period due to unbalanced development of brain regions associated with responsiveness to rewards and behavioral control and the accumulation of social and environmental risk factors. The objective of this application is to identify how PDE relates to adolescents' own risk-taking propensity at both the behavioral and neural level. We will use functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine brain activation in a well-characterized sample of adolescents with a history of PDE who have been followed since birth while they complete an established, ecologically valid, computer-based assessment tool for risk-taking behavior. We hypothesize that PDE will lead to 1) direct alterations in neural structure and function associated with reward pathways due to disrupted neurodevelopment, and 2) indirect effects by altering the baseline activity of neural systems, increasing vulnerability to socio-environmental risk factors, and altering the individuals' own assessment of and engagement in risk-taking behavior. Results of this investigation will advance the field as it brings the power and tools of cognitive neuroscience to bear on long-term effects of drug abuse and addiction. Understanding how PDE affects functioning at the neural level in adolescents is crucial for understanding behavioral effects, including the development of risk-taking and other problem behaviors. These outcomes will have an important impact as they will demonstrate the long-term consequences of PDE on development and highlight relations with the environment. Research that integrates neural and behavioral measures in public health relevant topics is innovative. The outcomes of the proposed experiment have important public health significance because they can be used to develop targeted prevention strategies to interrupt this intergenerational cycle of risk behavior.