"For decades, my colleagues and I advanced the premise that early substance use-nicotine, alcohol, or cannabis (or other addicting drugs)-interferes with critical maturation stages, particularly adolescence. Some questioned the science behind these premises, while others said it was propaganda from people disapproving of drugs like cannabis to justify their views. Despite this, clinicians often conveyed the cautionary: "The adolescent brain is still developing," or "Drugs hurt the teenage brain.""
"Recently, these statements received strong support from research that provides a framework for understanding how the developing brain changes and when those changes occur, noting that specific periods are disproportionately vulnerable. The Nature Communications study by Alexa Mousley and colleagues at the University of Cambridge, Topological Turning Points Across the Human Lifespan, provided this framework. By analyzing more than 4,000 diffusion MRI scans from birth to age 90, researchers identified major turning points in structural brain topology."
Brain infrastructure and default settings develop, change, and organize through the thirties. Analysis of over 4,000 diffusion MRI scans spanning birth to age 90 identified major turning points in structural brain topology, with a critical topologically dynamic epoch from roughly 9 to 32 years. Adolescence and emerging adulthood are periods of fastest and most consequential structural network reorganization. Chronic pharmacologic exposures during these periods—even mild or transient—can alter developmental trajectories and persistently modify reward circuits. The identified vulnerability window has direct implications for substance use disorder prevention, clinical counseling, and research into long-term neural consequences of early substance use.
Read at Psychology Today
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