Altered resting functional connectivity patterns associated with problematic substance use and substance use...

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Adolescent Psychology
• Addiction Research

Background:

• Adolescence sees rising substance use and substance use disorders (SUD).
• Aberrant functional connectivity (FC) between executive control and subcortical regions is hypothesized to underlie adolescent SUD and problematic substance use.
• Limited research has explored system-level or whole-brain FC in this population.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate system-level functional connectivity (FC) in adolescents with SUD and problematic substance use.
• To examine executive control-subcortical network (ECN-SCN) coupling and whole-brain FC patterns.
• To differentiate neural circuitry associated with SUD versus problematic substance use in adolescents.

Main Methods:

• Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and independent component analysis (ICA) were employed.
• The study included 114 adolescents: 18 with SUD and 34 with problematic substance use.
• ECN-SCN coupling and whole-brain FC were analyzed.

Main Results:

• Problematic substance use, not SUD, correlated with increased negative ECN-SCN coupling (p=0.026).
• Adolescents with SUD exhibited insula-associated hypoconnectivity (p=0.037), negatively correlated with substance use frequency.
• Distinct neural patterns were observed for SUD versus problematic substance use.

Conclusions:

• Findings suggest different neural circuitry underlies adolescent SUD and problematic substance use.
• Increased negative ECN-SCN coupling in problematic users may indicate future SUD risk.
• Insula hypoconnectivity in SUD adolescents might reflect altered interoception or decision-making deficits.