Description (from grant):
Adolescence is a dynamic period critical to brain development, with increased vulnerability to the impact of substance use (SU) on maturation. In addition, psychopathology, environmental and social factors may modulate brain development and risk for SU, which may further impact the brain. Dissecting these bidirectional relationships that contribute to neurodevelopmental trajectories requires a large-scale comprehensive prospective longitudinal study.
The Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) consortium is the largest long-term study of brain development and child health in the USA ( 21 research sites). The objective is to establish a national, multisite, longitudinal cohort to prospectively examine the neurodevelopmental and behavioral effects of substance use (SU) from early adolescence through the period of risk for SU and SU disorders. The consortium combines multimodal brain imaging, cognitive and clinical assessments, bioassays, and mobile monitoring, with assessment of substance use, environment, psychopathological symptoms, and social functioning in 11,878 9-10 year-olds (607 at UMB). Participants are assessed at age 9-10 and subsequently followed over 10 years. The Consortium has an optimized research protocol and 4 specific aims: 1) Use multi-modal neuroimaging to evaluate premorbid factors and the impact associated with diverse patterns of SU on structure and function of the developing brain. 2) Disentangle the predictors and consequences of diverse patterns of SU on physical health, psychosocial and cognitive development, academic achievement, motivation and emotional regulation. 3) Examine how the quantity and combination of substances used affect the expression of psychopathology and, conversely, how the emergence of psychopathology influences SU. 4) Assess how each substance used contributes to the use of other substances (gateway interactions).
The neuroimaging in the parent grant involves anatomical (MPRAGE, FLAIR), and simultaneous multislice (SMS) resting state fMRI (rsfMRI) and DTI measures. The supplement is to further evaluate neurochemical and neurophysiological changes in these subjects, for which the investigators will additionally perform 1H MRS, perfusion MRI (using arterial spin labeling), and quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM), in approximately half of the study population.