Adolescent brain development, risk-taking and vulnerability to addiction.
- Authors
- Dayan, Jacques; Bernard, Alix; Olliac, Bertrand; Mailhes, Anne-Sophie; Kermarrec, Solenn
- Year
- 2010
- Journal
- Journal of physiology, Paris
- PMID
- 20816768
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.jphysparis.2010.08.007
Adolescents (12-18 years old) and young adults (18-25 years old), are more likely than older adults to drive-or agree to be driven-recklessly or while intoxicated, to use illicit or dangerous substances and to engage in both minor and more serious antisocial behaviour. Numerous factors during adolescence may lead to or favour initiation of drug use, such as sensation-seeking, gregariousness and social conformity. These aspects, however, cannot be dissociated from the increased sex drive and quest for an integrated self. In the separation-individuation process, relationships with peers play many different roles: a field for experimentation, emotional support, a place for "projection" and "identification", and the possibility of finding a partner. Unsurprisingly, therefore, drug use generally takes place in a group setting. Despite evidence of heightened real-world risk-taking, laboratory studies have yet to yield consistent evidence that adolescents, when on their own, are more inclined towards risky behaviour than their elders. Moreover, their comprehension and reasoning abilities in risky decision-making situations are roughly equivalent to those of adults. Structural and functional neuroimaging studies have shown that neural circuitry undergoes major reorganization during adolescence, particularly in those regions of the brain relating to executive functions, the self and social cognition, and that the "emotional brain" may play a role in that reorganization. Age-related decreases in gray matter volume mainly reflect a reduction in the number of synapses and the complexity of axonal ramifications. By 18-20 years old, most of the subcortical white matter and association pathways have reached a plateau. Risk-taking behavior and novelty-seeking may provide, with an appropriate feed back, a mechanism to optimize brain development in adolescence.
No figures extracted from this document.
No chunks — full text not yet ingested.
No entities extracted from this document yet.
No uploaded files.
No citations found.
In this knowledge base
| Title | Year | PMID |
|---|---|---|
| Reward processing deficits and impulsivity in high-risk offspring of alcoholics: A study of event-related potentials during a monetary gambling task. | 2015 | 26388585 |
External
| Title | Authors | Journal | Year | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Differentiating the Determinants of Ever Having Used a Vape Versus Use Frequency: A Hurdle Modelling Approach. | Phipps DJ et al. | — | 2026 | → |
| Cannabis Use and Sexual Identity Exploration in Emerging Adulthood: A Call for Inclusive, Trauma-Informed Campus Mental Health Strategies. | Paul FA et al. | — | 2025 | → |
| Growing up with screens: Investigating gender and socioeconomic differences and social relationships in the development of problematic smartphone use. | Lee YJ et al. | — | 2025 | → |
| Perinatal fentanyl exposure drives enduring addiction risk and central amygdala gene dysregulation. | Wood CP et al. | — | 2025 | → |
| Perinatal Fentanyl Exposure Drives Enduring Addiction Risk and Central Amygdala Gene Dysregulation | Wood CP et al. | — | 2025 | — |
| Brain structural covariance network features are robust markers of early heavy alcohol use. | Ottino-González J et al. | — | 2024 | → |
| The path from mood symptoms to substance use: A longitudinal examination in individuals with and at risk for bipolar spectrum disorders. | Smith LT et al. | — | 2024 | → |
| Brain structural covariance network differences in adults with alcohol dependence and heavy-drinking adolescents. | Ottino-González J et al. | — | 2022 | → |
| Chronic unpredictable early-life stress (CUELS) protocol: Early-life stress changes anxiety levels of adult zebrafish. | Fontana BD et al. | — | 2021 | → |
| Opioid misuse and family structure: Changes and continuities in the role of marriage and children over two decades. | Chapman A et al. | — | 2021 | → |
| Social-Ecological Predictors of Opioid Use Among Adolescents With Histories of Substance Use Disorders. | Nichols LM et al. | — | 2021 | → |
| The role of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) in the treatment of behavioral addictions: Two case reports and review of the literature. | Cuppone D et al. | — | 2021 | → |
| Individual intelligence and brain neural correlates associated with outcome expectancies for risk behaviors in adults. | Li X et al. | — | 2020 | → |
| Is the Adolescent Brain at Greater Vulnerability to the Effects of Cannabis? A Narrative Review of the Evidence. | Blest-Hopley G et al. | — | 2020 | → |
| The prevalence of religiosity and association between religiosity and alcohol use, other drug use, and risky sexual behaviours among grade 8-10 learners in Western Cape, South Africa. | Francis JM et al. | — | 2019 | → |
| Women with compulsive buying or gambling disorder: Similar profiles for different behavioural addictions. | Díez D et al. | — | 2018 | → |
| Compulsive Buying Behavior: Characteristics of Comorbidity with Gambling Disorder. | Granero R et al. | — | 2016 | → |
| Compulsive Buying Behavior: Clinical Comparison with Other Behavioral Addictions. | Granero R et al. | — | 2016 | → |
| Ecological Momentary Assessment and Smartphone Application Intervention in Adolescents with Substance Use and Comorbid Severe Psychiatric Disorders: Study Protocol. | Benarous X et al. | — | 2016 | → |
| Is Adolescent Poly-tobacco Use Associated with Alcohol and Other Drug Use? | Creamer MR et al. | — | 2016 | → |
| Neural Correlates of Response Inhibition in Adolescents Prospectively Predict Regular Tobacco Smoking. | Anokhin AP et al. | — | 2016 | → |
| Stereological analyses of reward system nuclei in maternally deprived/separated alcohol drinking rats. | Gondré-Lewis MC et al. | — | 2016 | → |
| Altered gray matter density and disrupted functional connectivity of the amygdala in adults with Internet gaming disorder. | Ko CH et al. | — | 2015 | → |
| Anti-anxiety self-medication in rats: oral consumption of chlordiazepoxide and ethanol after reward devaluation. | Manzo L et al. | — | 2015 | → |
| Impaired Decision-Making, Higher Impulsivity, and Drug Severity in Substance Dependence and Pathological Gambling. | Krmpotich T et al. | — | 2015 | → |
| The National Consortium on Alcohol and NeuroDevelopment in Adolescence (NCANDA): A Multisite Study of Adolescent Development and Substance Use. | Brown SA et al. | — | 2015 | → |
| Coordination of gene expression of arachidonic and docosahexaenoic acid cascade enzymes during human brain development and aging. | Ryan VH et al. | — | 2014 | → |
| Understanding the rural-urban differences in nonmedical prescription opioid use and abuse in the United States. | Keyes KM et al. | — | 2014 | → |
| Advances in the science of adolescent drug involvement: implications for assessment and diagnosis - experience from the United States. | Winters KC | — | 2013 | → |
| Genetic and environmental predictors of latent trajectories of alcohol use from adolescence to adulthood: a male twin study. | Wichers M et al. | — | 2013 | → |
| Adventure-based programming: exemplary youth development practice. | Sibthorp J et al. | — | 2011 | → |
| Hospitalizations for alcohol and drug overdoses in young adults ages 18-24 in the United States, 1999-2008: results from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample. | White AM et al. | — | 2011 | → |