Adolescence is the most dramatic stage of development. Weed, alcohol and marijuana are the most consumed. According to research, adolescent substance users report abnormalities in brain function, linked to changes in neurocognition over time. poor brain function and activation of cognitive tasks are the most recognized abnormalities. teens who use weed and marijuana heavily also show subtle abnormalities, which certainly doesn't represent the same percentage divergence from similar random non-using teens. Drug and alcohol use primarily affects the neurocognition and brain functions of adolescent substance users, with emphasis on the most commonly abused substances and ongoing neuromaturation processes. Special treatment and counseling is provided to those who wish to give up drugs for good. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Substance use during adolescence has been associated with alterations in brain structure, function, and neurocognition. Research among adults has shown that chronic excessive alcohol consumption is associated with adverse consequences on the adult brain 1; this relationship has only recently been explored in the adolescent brain. Understanding the effects of alcohol and drug use on adolescent neurocognition is crucial, given that rates of use increase significantly between ages 12 and 18. Epidemiological studies have shown that past-month alcohol consumption increases by 13 to 20 percent, between the 8th and 12th grades. 50% of teenagers have used alcohol and at least 46% have used other dangerous drugs that they believe could help them forget all their problems and succeed in school. Although the developing brain may be more affected by neurotoxic effects, exposure to alcohol and drugs during a period of brain development can interrupt the natural course of brain maturation and key processes of brain development. Adolescence can be a time of serious vulnerability to the effects of alcohol on the brain 3-6. The cognitive outcomes arising from these alcohol and drug insults have potentially harmful implications for subsequent academic, occupational, and social functioning into adulthood. It is therefore important to elucidate the neurocognitive sequelae of excessive alcohol and drug consumption. The period of youth development between childhood and adulthood includes complex social, biological, and psychological changes. The relationship between these factors has considerable implications for adolescent development. Among these are substantial changes in the efficiency and specialization of the adolescent brain, which are accomplished through synaptic refinement and myelination, according to a New York Times study. Excessive alcohol consumption during adolescence has subtle, but significant, deleterious effects on adolescent neurocognitive functioning. Studies have shown that adolescents who drink heavily have declines in memory 24, attention and speeded information processing 25, 26, as well as executive functions 27-29. findings are consistent with literature examining neurocognitive deficits in young problem drinkers, which found similar decreases in attention and information processing, as wellas deficits in language skills and academic success26. Although it has often been assumed that marijuana use is not linked to long-term cognitive deficits, recent data suggest that even after four weeks of supervised abstinence, adolescents who regularly smoke marijuana have performed worse on tests of learning performance, cognitive flexibility, visual analysis, error making, and working memory 30. Additionally, the number of lifetime marijuana uses These episodes were significantly related to overall poorer cognitive functioning, even after controlling for lifetime alcohol consumption. We 7 prospectively examined the neuropsychological functioning of 26 youth without a history of alcohol or drug problems and compared them to 47 youth with a history of heavy alcohol, marijuana, and stimulant use. Follow-up neuropsychological tests were administered to subjects on seven different occasions over 8 years, on average between ages 16 and 24. Although there were no significant differences between users and non-users on neurocognitive test scores at time one, heavy drinkers performed worse on cognitive tasks at age 24 than light drinkers. . In particular, those who had a history of alcohol withdrawal symptoms (e.g., orthostatic hypotension, nausea, insomnia, or irritability) were most likely to have a decrease in their performance scores, particularly on tests of spatial functioning. Overall, heavy drinking in adolescence was linked to difficulty meeting age expectations 7, 25, 31. In summary, adolescence is characterized by a dramatic increase in rates of substance use alongside ongoing neuromaturation. While neuropsychological studies have shown that adolescent substance use is linked to poorer spatial, inhibitory, and memory functioning, neuroimaging techniques can elucidate the neural mechanisms of these performance deficits. Recent findings suggest decreases in brain function associated with adolescent substance use. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies neuronal activity in the brain by measuring changes in the blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) signal 50, which indicates areas of increased activation in response to a mental task or stimulus 51. This technique is non-invasive and does not require injections or radioactive materials, making it a safe and suitable technique to examine adolescent brain functioning and also affect their memory. Adolescents' response to alcohol advertising is concerning, as they are exposed to alcohol-related advertisements on a daily basis in many countries 60. We 61 have observed that young people who drink a lot of alcohol demonstrate greater brain activation when watching alcohol advertisements than when watching alcohol advertisements. drinks ads. This significantly greater brain activation to images of alcoholic beverages was observed throughout the brain, particularly in the prefrontal area, nucleus accumbens, hypothalamus, posterior cingulate, and temporal lobe, and was significant in the hemisphere left, the limbic and the visual cortex. This suggests that the reward, visual attention, limbic, appetitive and episodic systems were preferentially invoked in response to alcohol advertisements compared to non-alcohol advertisements among adolescents whodrink a lot. Only the inferior frontal gyrus showed more activation in light drinkers during the task, potentially indicating a negative valence to these alcohol stimuli in nondrinking adolescents. Overall, light drinkers responded more to images of soft drinks. These findings extend previous studies in adults and link exposure to alcohol advertising in youth to activation of brain areas of reward, desire, positive emotion, and episodic recall 62. Predicting relapse Relapse is a common clinical problem among people with substance dependence. Previous studies have implicated a multifactorial process underlying relapse; however, the contribution of specific neuronal substrates had not previously been examined. We 63 examined whether functional imaging findings soon after treatment cessation could predict relapse in stimulant-dependent individuals. The objectives were to evaluate the neurobiology of decisional dysfunction in stimulant-dependent subjects and to determine whether functional imaging could be used as a tool for predicting relapse. Participants included adult male methamphetamine addicts seeking treatment (N=46). All individuals underwent fMRI scanning three to four weeks after cessation of substance use. Of the 40 subjects who completed a median period of 370 days, 18 relapsed and 22 did not relapse. The primary outcome measure was BOLD activation during a simple two-choice prediction task. During the prediction task, a house was presented, flanked by a person to its left and right. The participant decided on which side of the house a car would appear. Each trial was paced at its own pace to maximize self-determined action. Thus, the subject determined the number of trials based on the latency to select a response. Immediately after the subject's response, the car was presented for 300 ms on the far left or right. The screen indicated whether the prediction was correct. Unbeknownst to the participant, the computer determined the response based on the participant's selection. Three types of error rate blocks included high chance level (20% of answers were “correct”), 50% chance level, and low chance level (80% of answers were “correct”). The task captures the key elements of decision making: the probability of an outcome associated with an option, the positive or negative consequence and the magnitude of the consequence 64. fMRI activation patterns in the insular cortex right, posterior cingulate, and temporal correctly predicted 20 of 22 subjects who did not relapse and 17 of 18 subjects who did. Cox regression analysis revealed that the combination of right middle frontal gyrus, middle temporal gyrus, and posterior cingulate activation best predicted time to relapse. Overall, this is the first investigation demonstrating that fMRI can be used to predict relapse in people with substance dependence. It is likely that relapse corresponds to less activation of structures essential for decision-making, and therefore poor decision-making paves the way for relapse. The insular cortex may act through the interoceptive system to influence the ability to differentiate between good and bad choices, while the inferior parietal lobule may play a role in misjudging decision-making situations and in subsequent recourse to habitual behavior. Overall, substance-dependent adults exhibit brain patterns that can be used to predict if and when to relapsecould occur. Future studies are needed to determine whether this is true for adolescents and whether brain activation patterns can be used to assess an individual's readiness for treatment completion or response to treatment. Overall, changes in brain functioning in adolescents differ across patterns of substance use. Research has shown that excessive alcohol consumption during adolescence can lead to decreased performance on cognitive tasks of memory, attention, spatial skills, and executive functioning. These behavioral consequences of excessive alcohol consumption may result from reduced volume of important brain structures (e.g., hippocampus), compromised white matter quality, and activation abnormalities during cognitive tasks. Studies have also shown that marijuana use during adolescence can lead to decreased cognitive functioning, particularly learning and sequencing scores. In integrating and interpreting the results of our laboratory's adolescent marijuana studies, it is important to note that the groups are generally equivalent in terms of task performance and, therefore, the underlying brain responses of the Controls and users can be broadly assumed to represent activity on the same mental plane. action. Corresponding marijuana-related cognitive changes may be related to increased gray matter tissue volume, decreased white matter microstructural integrity, and increased neuronal activation during cognitive tasks. In summary, we can reasonably rule out that recent use explains the observed differences between substance groups, given that participants in some studies were abstinent for a month or more. Adolescent drug users have been found to differ from non-users in neuropsychological performance, brain tissue volume, white matter integrity, and brain functional response. Longitudinal studies are essential to fully understand how alcohol and marijuana use affect adolescent neurodevelopment. The cross-sectional nature of the majority of studies examining adolescent neurocognitive functioning makes it difficult to determine the influence of alcohol and drug use on adolescent neurocognition. Therefore, ongoing longitudinal neuroimaging studies are essential to determine the extent to which substance use is temporally linked to adverse changes in brain integrity indices, or whether neuronal abnormalities reflect pre-existing patterns. In the context of cross-sectional or longitudinal work, several methodological characteristics are essential to evaluate the potential influence of adolescent substance use on neurocognition. These issues relate to ensuring participant compliance, accurately assessing potential confounds, and optimizing participant tracking. Adolescents' compliance as a research participant can be maximized by attending to relationships, building trust, and ensuring confidentiality of self-report data to the extent that this is ethical and feasible in the context. For behavioral tasks inside or outside of imaging, it is essential to ensure that participants understand the task instructions, are fully trained in the fMRI tasks, and then that they receive reminders just before task administration. THE).