Center for Substance Use and Addiction Research (CESAR), Department of Psychology, Education and Child Studies, Erasmus School of Social and Behavioral Science, Erasmus University Rotterdam, 3000 DR Rotterdam, the Netherlands; Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University Medical Center Rotterdam, Erasmus MC, Sophia Children's Hospital, 3000 CB Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
Center for Substance Use and Addiction Research (CESAR), Department of Psychology, Education and Child Studies, Erasmus School of Social and Behavioral Science, Erasmus University Rotterdam, 3000 DR Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
Biol Psychol. 2024 Oct;192:108859. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2024.108859. Epub 2024 Sep 2.
A prominent challenge in understanding neural consequences of substance use involves disentangling predispositional risk factors from resulting consequences of substance use. Existing literature has identified pre-existing brain variations as vulnerability markers for substance use throughout adolescence. As early initiation of use is an important predictor for later substance use problems, we examined whether pre-existing brain variations are associated with early initiation of use. In the Generation R Study, a prospective population-based cohort, brain morphology (gray matter volume, cortical thickness and surface area) was assessed at ages 10 and 14 using neuroimaging. In the second wave, participants reported on alcohol and tobacco use initiation. From a base study population (N = 3019), we examined the longitudinal (N = 2218) and cross-sectional (N = 1817) association between brain morphology of frontolimbic regions of interest known to be associated with substance use risk, and very early (age < 13) alcohol/tobacco use initiation. Additionally, longitudinal and cross-sectional associations were examined with a brain surface-based approach. Models were adjusted for age at neuroimaging, sex and relevant sociodemographic factors. No associations were found between brain morphology (ages 10 and 14) and early alcohol/tobacco use initiation (<13 years). Sex-specific analyses suggested a cross-sectional association between smaller brain volume and early initiated tobacco use in girls. Our findings are important for interpreting studies examining neural consequences of substance use in the general population. Future longitudinal studies are needed to specify whether these findings can be extended to initiation and continuation of alcohol/tobacco use in later stages of adolescence.
理解物质使用对神经的影响的一个突出挑战涉及将潜在的风险因素与物质使用的后果区分开来。现有文献已经确定了大脑的早期变化是物质使用贯穿整个青春期的易感性标志。由于早期使用是以后物质使用问题的重要预测因素，我们研究了预先存在的大脑变化是否与早期使用有关。在 R 世代研究中，一项前瞻性的基于人群的队列研究，使用神经影像学在 10 岁和 14 岁时评估大脑形态（灰质体积、皮质厚度和表面积）。在第二波中，参与者报告了酒精和烟草的使用开始时间。从一个基础研究人群（N=3019）中，我们检查了已知与物质使用风险相关的额眶部区域的大脑形态的纵向（N=2218）和横断面（N=1817）与非常早期（年龄<13 岁）的酒精/烟草使用开始之间的关系。此外，还使用基于大脑表面的方法检查了纵向和横断面的关联。模型调整了神经影像学时的年龄、性别和相关社会人口因素。在 10 岁和 14 岁时的大脑形态与早期的酒精/烟草使用开始之间没有发现关联（年龄<13 岁）。性别特异性分析表明，女孩大脑体积较小与早期开始吸烟有横断面关联。我们的研究结果对于解释一般人群中物质使用对神经影响的研究非常重要。未来需要进行纵向研究，以确定这些发现是否可以扩展到青春期后期酒精/烟草使用的开始和持续。
