Models of adolescent drug use and its consequences

最近的关切围绕着药物滥用--特别是酗酒、吸入剂滥用和大麻使用--对青少年心理健康的影响。早期使用药物与精神健康问题有关，尽管所涉及的机制没有得到很好的描述。目前的建议旨在使用动物模型来描述青春期发生的药物滥用的特征，并调查其对大脑和行为的影响。增加我们对青少年滥用药物的原因和后果的了解，将提高澳大利亚应对这一问题的能力，并制定早期干预和治疗措施，将相关危害降至最低。

Recent concerns surround the impact of drug abuse - particularly binge drinking, inhalant abuse and cannabis use - on the mental health of adolescents. Early drug use is associated with mental health problems although the mechanisms involved are not well characterised. The present proposal aims to use animal models to characterise substance abuse that occurs during the adolescent period and to investigate its effects on brain and behaviour. Increasing our knowledge of the causes and consequences of adolescent drug abuse will improve Australia's ability to confront this problem and to develop early interventions and treatments that minimise associated harms.