use. While the present findings are preliminary and the support vector machine classifications should be tested on other independent samples, if brain volume is confirmed as a viable biomarker of dependence, or of biological risk of dependence, it could be used to plan how prevention and treatment resources are allocated to individual patients as well as, potentially, to track intervention success. A structural MRI scan in combination with other factors known to be related to substance use problems (e.g., change in employment or marital status, health issues) could be used to assess risk of transition to problematic patterns of use or to quantify the current degree of dependence, which would influence the intervention strategy.
