These findings provide evidence in support of the neurodevelopmental delay hypothesis, which suggests that protracted neuromaturation is a potential mechanism through which a positive FH increases risk for alcohol dependence (16). Developmental literature suggests that with increasing skill in cognitive resources such as inhibition, processing speed, and working memory, children and adolescents improve their mastery in tasks that require these component processes (63, 64). Mastery and integration of each subcomponent improves overall cognitive control of behavior. A subtle deficit in one or more of these cognitive elements may lead to reduced complex cognitive control and postponed mastery of interdependent neurocognitive functions. Therefore, an adolescent with a subtle lag in fronto-parietal neuromaturation may also suffer a concomitant delay in achieving inhibitory control (65-68). Therefore, greater similarity of FHN neural networks to those in healthy older adolescents may illustrate such an increased vulnerability.
