Table 5.
Results and details of recent studies investigating human adolescent substance use.
| Reference | Substance(s) studied | Age of onset | Mean or median age at testing(s) | Number of users (% male) | Brain Region | Results |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tomek et al. [34] | Alcohol | 12–18 | 18 | 1,209 (51) | Earlier alcohol initiation predicted later use in females, no effect in males | |
| Squeglia et al. [92] | Alcohol | 19.6 | 75 (60) | Cortex, corpus callosum, pons |
-↓ white matter growth - ↑ gray matter reduction |
|
| Luciana et al. [93] | Alcohol | 16.4 | 19.2 | 30 | Cortex |
-↑ decreases in cortical thickness -↓ white matter development |
| Meda et al. [94] | Alcohol | 20.5 | 139 (51) | Frontal gyrus, parahippocampus, anterior cingulate | -↓ GMV | |
| Infante et al. [95] | Alcohol | 17.5, 18.5, 19.5, 20.5 | 166 (53) | Frontal regions | -↓ GMV | |
| El Marroun et al. [96] | Alcohol | 13.8 | 16.6 | 404 (47.8) | Frontal cortex, cingulate cortex |
-↓ GMV -↓ increase in WMV |
| Sun et al. [97] | Alcohol | 16.8, 17.7, 18.7 | 185 (50.8) | Cortex | -Age-dependent changes in cortical thinning | |
| Zhao et al. [98] | Alcohol | 20 | 160 (53.8) | Whole brain | -↓ white matter integrity | |
| Shen et al. [99] | Alcohol | 24.8 | 62 (44) | Whole brain | ↓ fractional anisotropy in anterior corpus callosum in males, no effect in females | |
| Phillips et al. [100] | Alcohol | 18.8 | 17.3, 18.3, 19.3 | 181 (51) | Hippocampus, amygdala |
-↓ hippocampal volume -↑ amygdala volume |
| Murray et al. [111] | Cannabis | 19 | 12 (50) | Adolescents showed greater behavioral and cognitive impairment and decreased P300 amplitude, relative to adults following acute THC exposure | ||
| Mustonen et al. [112] | Cannabis | 15.5 | 31.5 | 375 (44) | ↑ risk of psychosis | |
| Penzel et al. [115] | Cannabis | 17.4 | 23.8 | 102 (67) | Cerebellum | ↑ GMV, ↑ positive psychosis symptoms |
| Subramaniam et al. [127] | Cannabis | 15.5 | 20.4 | 18 (67) | ACC | ↓ GABA levels in adolescent cannabis users |
| Schaefer et al. [144] | Cannabis | <18 | 24, 29 | 3,762 | ACE associated with lower educational attainment | |
| Mokrysz et al. [148] | Cannabis | 15 | 526 (47) | ACE not related to IQ or educational performance | ||
| Castellanos-Ryan et al. [150] | Cannabis | 14–17 | 20 | 127 (100) | ACE associated with decline in verbal IQ and executive function tasks, and lower high school graduation. | |
| Albaugh et al. [151] | Cannabis | 19 | 369 (51) | PFC | Accelerated cortical thinning, greater attentional impulsivity | |
| Skumlien et al. [165] | Cannabis | 17.1 | 76 (49) | Lower levels of anhedonia in moderate cannabis users | ||
| Skumlien et al. [166] | Cannabis | 17.2 | 32 (50) | Ventral striatum | No change in reward anticipation related activity | |
| Clark et al. [159] | Cannabis | 14.3 | 743 (48) | Identification of methylation markers in problematic cannabis users. | ||
| Kinnunen et al. [178] | Nicotine | 51 (48) | Nicotine e-cigarette use increases risk of daily cigarette use | |||
| Dierker et al. [179] | Nicotine, cannabis | 14.7 (cannabis) | 18.3 | (59) | Nicotine use significantly predicted later cannabis use | |
| Kristjánsson et al. [180] | Nicotine, Alcohol | 15.5 | 587 (49) | Electronic cigarette users were significantly more likely to use alcohol | ||
| Treur et al. [210] | Nicotine | 15, 42 | 2,111 (28) | Increase in attentional problems in smokers relative to non-smoking twin | ||
| Sylvestre et al. [222] | Nicotine | 13 | 15 | 839 (44) | Higher likelihood of developing nicotine dependence in girls than boys | |
| Duan et al. [223] | Nicotine | 13–18 | 189 (51) | Higher prvelance of past 30-day smoking in e-cigarette users than non-users. Relationship stronger in boys than girls. | ||
| Dai et al. [223] | Nicotine | 11.5 | 116 (52) | Cortex | Impaired cognitive performance, reduced cortical area and volume | |
| Chaarni et al. [214] | Nicotine | 14 | 211 | Cortex, corpus callosum |
-↓ GMV -Altered corpus callosum connectivity |
|
| Yu et al. [215] | Nicotine | 15.1 | 20.8 | 36 (100) | Thalamus | ↓ volume |
| Luo et al. [234] | Alcohol, Cannabis | 16 | 363 (49) | Whole brain | ↓ GMV in alcohol-cannabis co-users than in single-substance users | |
| Infante et al. [235] | Alcohol, Cannabis | 16.4 (alcohol), 16.8 (cannabis) | 27.5 | Impaired cognitive function following AAE and ACE, but no additive effect | ||
| Thayer et al. [236] | Alcohol, Cannabis | 14–18 | 201 (74) | Whole brain | ↓ GMV in alcohol users, no effect of past 30-day cannabis use | |
| Courtney et al. [244] | Nicotine, Cannabis | 16–22 | 111 (65.5) | Cingulum tract, fornix tract | ↓ WMV following nicotine and cannabis poly use |
Note. WMV white matter volume, empty spaces indicate information not relevant to the study or not specified.