Brain-imaging and Adolescent Neuroscience Consortium

Brain-imaging and Adolescent Neuroscience Consortium

This is a multi-site study of adolescents 12-21 years-of-age to evaluate the long and shorter-term effect of adolescent alcohol use on the developing brain.

The overall specific aims of this study are to: 1) assess the short and long-term consequences of alcohol exposure on brain, cognitive, and emotional/regulatory development during preadolescence and adolescence; 2) determine the effects of timing, dose, and duration of alcohol on brain and cognitive development; 3) assess recovery of neural and behavioral function to determine if the plasticity of the adolescent brain makes it more or less vulnerable to alcohol's acute and chronic effects; 4) understand how other key covariates (e.g., existing or emerging psychopathology, family history of alcoholism, demographics, pubertal development) factor into alcohol's effects on the brain; and 5) identify early neural, cognitive, and affective markers that may predict alcohol abuse and dependence during adolescence and/or adulthood.

Inclusion Criteria:

• able to read and understand English
• available for follow-up
• parental consent/adolescent assent for those 12-17 years
• consent for those 18-21 years

Exclusion Criteria:

• Weight > 300 lbs
• braces or unremovable embedded metal
• claustrophobia or inability to lie still in MRI machine
• current or past 12-mos pregnancy (females)
• requires urgent medical/mental health care