adolescent-typical combination of enhanced positive/attenuated aversive biases toward drugs and other stimuli may contribute to elevated drug use during adolescence. Upon first use of a novel drug, adolescents may experience positive effects in the absence of notable aversive effects (e.g. nausea, light headedness), increasing the probability that this initial use will be repeated. With continued use, these patterns of sensitivity permit relatively high levels of use and the emergence of abusive patterns of use among vulnerable individuals. Given the developmental differences in brain circuitry between adolescents and adults, a different path to abuse patterns may be present in adults, with perhaps repeated use leading to sensitization of drug “craving” (e.g., Robinson & Berridge, 2003) or to augmentation of post-use aversive consequences that prompt continued use for their relief (e.g., see Koob, 2001). In order to better understand risky and drug-related behaviors during adolescence, more research is needed to characterize reward-related processing among adolescents, as well as the impact of developmental alterations in associated reward-relevant neurocircuitry on these processes.
