Affect-Related Brain Activity and Adolescent Substance Use: A Systematic Review

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Developmental Psychology
• Addiction Research

Background:

• Adolescence is a critical period for substance use (SU) initiation and development of substance use disorder (SUD).
• Understanding the neural underpinnings of affective processing in adolescents is crucial for identifying risk factors for SU.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review and synthesize current research on brain activity during affective processing in relation to adolescent SU.
• To examine neural responses to reward, negative emotional stimuli, and loss in the context of adolescent substance use.

Main Methods:

• This review synthesizes findings from neuroimaging studies examining brain activity during affective tasks in adolescents.
• Studies included in this review investigate neural correlates of reward, loss, and negative emotional stimuli in relation to SU initiation and SUD.

Main Results:

• Altered neural activity in midcingulo-insular, frontoparietal, and other networks is associated with adolescent SU.
• Increased striatal recruitment to positive stimuli correlates with SU initiation, while decreased recruitment is linked to SUD.
• Adolescents with SU show altered midcingulo-insular network responses to negative affective stimuli, with potential sex differences.

Conclusions:

• Affect-related neural activity is significantly altered in adolescents with SU.
• Future longitudinal research is needed to establish causality and explore sex as a moderator of these neural risk factors.