Neuroimaging Correlates of Adolescent Substance Use: A Systematic Review of the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study
Abstract
Background: Neuroimaging may help characterize brain and contextual factors associated with substance use during development. The ABCD study supports investigation of developmental pathways relevant to substance use [1]. Objective: To synthesize original ABCD publications examining MRI measures in relation to substance use and substance-related exposures. Methods: The authors screened all 2,700 publications in the ABCD corpus. Original empirical articles reporting an MRI measure of any modality and a substance use variable were eligible; methodological, conceptual, review, and commentary articles were excluded. Imaging modality, brain measures, substances, design, and association direction were extracted for descriptive synthesis. Results: The evidence considered spans morphology, white matter microstructure, resting-state connectivity, and task activation. Findings concerning youth initiation, prenatal exposure, and familial liability address distinct developmental questions. Family history and stressful life events feature in the white matter literature [2]. Findings vary by modality, exposure definition, and temporal direction, and include null associations. Conclusions: The literature suggests distributed and context-dependent neuroimaging associations. Observational designs, overlapping participants, confounding, and analytic heterogeneity limit causal interpretation and assessment of independent replication. The findings support further longitudinal investigation but do not establish a validated MRI screening tool.
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BibTeX
@misc{assari2026neuroimaging,
title = {{Neuroimaging Correlates of Adolescent Substance Use: A Systematic Review of the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study}},
author = {Shervin Assari and Jordan Ray},
howpublished = {Research Square},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.21203/rs.3.rs-11484087/v1},
url = {https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-11484087/v1},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Neuroimaging Correlates of Adolescent Substance Use: A Systematic Review of the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study
AU - Shervin Assari
AU - Jordan Ray
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/27
PB - Research Square
DO - 10.21203/rs.3.rs-11484087/v1
UR - https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-11484087/v1
AB - Background: Neuroimaging may help characterize brain and contextual factors associated with substance use during development. The ABCD study supports investigation of developmental pathways relevant to substance use [1]. Objective: To synthesize original ABCD publications examining MRI measures in relation to substance use and substance-related exposures. Methods: The authors screened all 2,700 publications in the ABCD corpus. Original empirical articles reporting an MRI measure of any modality and a substance use variable were eligible; methodological, conceptual, review, and commentary articles were excluded. Imaging modality, brain measures, substances, design, and association direction were extracted for descriptive synthesis. Results: The evidence considered spans morphology, white matter microstructure, resting-state connectivity, and task activation. Findings concerning youth initiation, prenatal exposure, and familial liability address distinct developmental questions. Family history and stressful life events feature in the white matter literature [2]. Findings vary by modality, exposure definition, and temporal direction, and include null associations. Conclusions: The literature suggests distributed and context-dependent neuroimaging associations. Observational designs, overlapping participants, confounding, and analytic heterogeneity limit causal interpretation and assessment of independent replication. The findings support further longitudinal investigation but do not establish a validated MRI screening tool.
SN - 2693-5015
ER -